The Avatar Abandoned
by The 13th Unlucky Jinx
Summary: Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who abandoned him in the Fire Nation as a baby, Full Sum inside, AU/AR, Zukaang slash! Rated for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **Momo accidentally steals from Zuko and Aang gets the blame, but instead of being killed as is the usual punishment, for some reason Zuko doesn't take Aangs life, and instead takes him home and makes him his servant.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang.

**Notes: **Okay, so yeah, obviously an AU story, here's some other info that is required: Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, but he was born 100 years _late._So he's actually only 12 for real. Also, Zuko is 16, and in case you're wondering _why _this is relevant, this story shall be a Zukaang slash :) So, no likey, no read-y. A quick note about Zuko, he has the scar still, but he was never banished - everyone thinks the Avatar was killed for evers, permanent-like, so there was no need for Zuko to be sent on his quest. Also, Aang has hair, because of two things. 1) I think he looks cute like that, and 2) if he was never a monk, he'd never have shaved his hair off. And erm, for the same reason (he wasn't a monk) he has no airbender tatoos, so he just passes as a regular firebender kid. So yeah, and one final thing, Aang will have Momo as his pet, but no Appa. Though, he may turn up later, I'll see what I can do. ;D

**A/N: **This idea has been bugging me for a while now, so I thought I'd write it up! :) No haters of this pairing, no haters in general, in fact. Constructive criticism is welcome though!

Quick note, I'm looking for a beta, anyone offering? :D

So, read on, and click the little 'Review' button on the bottom of the page when you've finished! :D

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Aang sighed, closing his eyes and tipped his head back. He had only made five bronze pieces today. That was barely enough to feed himself this evening, let alone tomorrow morning. He opened his eyes as Momo landed on his shoulder, holding a tiny handful of berries, which he held out to Aang. The young boy smiled.

'I'm okay Momo, thanks. I have enough for some bread tonight, and I can always save some for tomorrow,' Aang said, chuckling slightly as Momo gave his version of a shrug and started stuffing his cheeks with the berries. 'Come on. Lets go get some bread.'

He stood, brushing the strands of hair that covered his forehead back, brushing off his faded brown pants and grimy red top. They weren't as bad as they usually were, thanks to the fact it had rained a few days ago (a rare thing in the nation that worshiped the Sun) and he had managed to bend a bit of the water through his clothes (making sure he wasn't seen at the time of course) cleaning off most of the grime and filth that came with living in the streets.

He wandered through the winding streets of the Fire Nation Capital, looking for the stall he normally bought his bread from. The old woman there was always kind to him - she had lost her son in the war, and Aang reminded her of him. He smiled as he entered the shop.

'Hey, Bayanai(1),' Aang said, walking up to the counter.

'Hello there, Aang, Momo,' the old shop-keeper said, smiling at the boy and the lemur. 'Here for some food?' The pair nodded eagerly. 'Well, come into the back and I'll pour us some tea and maybe bring out a packet of SootSnaps,' Bayanai said kindly at the young bare-footed boy, holding the beaded curtain leading into the backroom open.

Aang walked into the small room and sat in his usual spot beside the table. Sometimes he felt bad for taking advantage of Bayanai, but the old woman always insisted that Aang have something to eat when she found out he didn't have a family and he refused to stay with her.

Bayanai turned the 'Open' sign around on the door and smiled as she wound her way through the shelves of produce to the back room.

----

'Thanks Bayanai! I'll be back soon, okay?' Aang called to the woman who was more like a mother than a friend to him, clutching the two small loaves of bread to his chest. Bayanai had insisted on giving him two loaves of bread when he couldn't even afford to pay for one, although Aang wouldn't let her just give them to him and had insisted on giving her his five bronze pieces. Momo was perched on top of his head, crunching a SootSnap.

Turning, Aang started to make his way to the little niche he had in the streets of the Fire Nation - the closest thing he had to call a home. He was only a few streets away from his corner of the city when rough hands bundled him up against the wall. Panicking, Momo flew off before a fist could grab him.

'What the - ?!' Aang started to shout, when a small dagger was pressed against his throat.

'Shut up now, or we'll shut you up,' a voiced hissed in his ear, making Aang freeze. A pair of hands tugged the loaves of bread from his grasp and quickly searched his pockets. 'Is this all you have?' a second voice asked incredulously.

'Yes, I don't have a family or any where to stay either,' replied Aang hurridly, knowing that if they found out later they'd probably beat him to within an inch of his life.

'I think he's telling the truth. I've seen him around the town square, begging,' the first voice whispered to the other, although there really was no point considering Aang was right beside them.

'What? You _always _pick the ones with barely anything worth stealing!' the second voice hissed back.

'Hey, well at least he has _something!_' replied the first voice. Deciding to take what they had a run, the thieves knocked Aang down and bolted before he could stop them. The twelve-year-old hit the floor with a thump and an 'oof'. He wrapped one arm around his waist as he pushed himself up with the other, a tear winding its way down his cheek. Momo jumped down from the rooftop, landing beside his master, looking up at him with his big green eyes, curiously.

'What am I going to do Momo? I haven't had anything proper to eat since the day before yesterday, and I don't even have any money to buy scraps.' Aang let his head fall back against the wall, hearing his head 'thunk' against the brick and plaster.

Momo tilted his head to the right, before taking off. Aang didn't even have the energy to care. All he could think about was the empty feeling in his stomach and how his body was trembling from exhaustion. He closed his eyes and a few more tears escaped from under his eyelids and crept down his cheeks.

----

Aang woke with a start. Momo had landed in his lap and jolted him awake - although he didn't remember falling asleep. Judging by the colour of the sky he hadn't been asleep for too long; maybe an half an hour, an hour? He looked back at Momo as the flying lemur monkey jumped up and down slightly, clearly excited about something. A small leather pouch lay under Momos tiny paws. Aang picked it up curiously.

'What ... ?' he half asked, flipping open the flap that was keeping the contents of it hidden. His eyes widened as he stared at the small gold coins that winked back at him. 'Holy Agni, Momo! Where did you find this?!' he shouted, half fearfully, half excitedly.

A teenager skidded around the corner, fury in his liguid amber eyes. Aang froze. He recognised the boy that stood in front of him.

'You!' the teen cried, his tone accusing. 'Your pet stole my money! And I want it _back.'_

'P-prin-Prince Zuk-ko!' Aang stuttered, his grey eyes wide. There was no mistaking that scar. It could only be the Fire Prince. Aang dropped to his knees infront of the angered teenager, holding out the pouch and the money, his thin frame trembling. 'I am so sorry, I didn't know Momo had stolen from you, I didn't even know Momo had stolen anything of anyones, he's never done anything like that before, I swear!' Aang babbled, sweat dripping down his face in panic.

Zuko glared at the twelve year old, snatching the little pouch from him. 'Did you take anything from here?' he snapped.

'No, I didn't, you have my word,' replied Aang instantly, still shivering. He knew what the penalty for stealing was - your hands would be severely burned, and that was only for stealing from a middle-class citizen. Aang dreaded to think what the punishment for stealing from one of the Royal Family would be - death at the most merciful, probably.

Zuko looked down at the shaking form at his feet. He knew that he should feel furious that this little peasant had stolen from him, but yet ... he didn't. He was angry, certainly. But not furious. And he couldn't bring himself to harm the small boy in anyway. His eyes narrowed.

'You do realise that stealing from one of the Royal Family is punishable by death?' he asked.

Aang swallowed and nodded nervously, his eyes still on the floor. 'Y-yes, Sir.'

'However, I am feeling ... merciful.' Zuko glared, the word tasting foreign in his mouth. 'I think I can find a more suitable punishment for you,' the Fire Prince said, his voice almost a purr, a smirk winding it's way onto his lips. Aang looked up, fear flickering in his eyes.

Three fully armoured guards dashed around the corner. 'Prince Zuko! Is he the one that stole from you?'

Zuko let his gaze linger on Aang, before turning sharply. 'Yes, he is. Help him up. We are taking him back to the palace with us.'

The guards exchanged confused glances. 'But ... ' one of them began.

'Are you questioning me?!' Zuko roared, fire shooting from his fists at the floor.

'No, Sir, of course not!' the three soldiers replied, two grabbing Aangs arms, the other grabbing Momo.

'And don't hurt him. He is to be treated as our ... guest,' Zuko added, starting back towards the Palace.

* * *

(1) This name? I used an Avatar name generator and I put in my name ... Ahaha ... I'm so weird. :D

Next chapter: Aang finds out his punishment and Zuko starts wondering about Aang.

**A/N:** Sooo? What do you think? :D Likes? Dislikes? Tell me what you think in a review! Any ideas you'd like to see, mebeh? Well, I think I did quite well, I got over 2000 words, all in all - well, 2,092 words, to be exactement. Ahaha, french, how I hate you.

Anyways, drop me a line and I'll thank you in the next chapter! Also, first reviewer gets a bag of cookies, and all reviewers after that get a cookie each!


	2. Chapter 2

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Aang discovers why Zuko didn't kill him and accepts his punishment, while Azula makes certain comments causing Zuko become slightly confused.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang, rating may go up later.

**Disclaimer: **I neither own Avatar, nor make any profit from the virtual rape of the show. :D

**A/N:** Thought I'd add in the disclaimer because I hadn't used it the first chapter, and I had to add it in. And there's a description of Zukos room in this chappie, and if anyone gives me grief over it (Yes, you know who you are - and _yes_, I do actually mean you (I know what you're thinking as you read that bit D: )) then I shall destroy you. Thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_ArrayePL - _Glad you liked it, and as promised (throws bag of cookies) Bag of cookies for you!

_Karma Roo - _Yay, thank you! I'm glad you liked it enough to try it! (Gives cookie)

_PonyboySlashLover - _(Send you cookie) Thanks for the review!

Anyways, thanks to all reviewers, and he's the next chapter!

* * *

Aang was nervous as he was led towards Zukos room. He had been given some rice and steamed vegetables and then bathed. After his bath a servant had given him some clothes that were too big, but they were comfortable, and he had pulled them on, but only cause his clothes had been taken - somehow without him noticing. He tugged the shirt back up over his shoulder - the red cotton kept slipping down, which was, needless to say, annoying.

Momo was perched on his newly cleaned and brushed hair, sniffing the limp, slightly damp, brown strands, tugging some slightly in his small white paws. The Guards pulled open a huge ornate pair of doors and pushed Aang inside.

'Don't touch anything and make sure that your _pet,'_ here the Guard that was speaking stabbed his finger at Momo, 'doesn't break anything either. The Prince will be along shortly. Although I personally don't see what he likes about you,' he muttered the last part, but Aang heard anyway. With that they turned and locked the doors behind them.

The young boy sighed, looking around his virtual prison. There was no way he could get out now - at least not without damaging something and ensuring his death sentance. The room was nicely decorated, if somewhat simplistic. The walls were painted a dark crimson and the floor was plain wood planks, covered slightly by a large crimson and black rug. Candelabras hung from the wall, candles flickering faintly, illuminating the room just enought to see by. To the left, there were two doors leading off from the bedroom.

Cautiously, Aang opened the first door, peeking inside. There was a beautiful bathroom, even nicer than the one that Aang had washed in before. The floor was black marble and in the floor was an enormous sit-in bath with several silver taps. Closing the door silently, Aang slid over to the other door, opening it, looking inside with curiosity. There was a long walk in wardrobe inside with many typical Fire Nation garments as well as some clothes worn only by the Royal family or citizens of high standing. Looking around, Aang noticed many of the things were similar to his own red cotton shirt and black slacks. He felt a blush stain his cheeks as he realised he must be wearing Zukos clothes - although he didn't quite understand why.

Aang left the wardrobe and turned back to the bedroom. In the centre of the room was a huge four-poster bed, covered in what looked like black silk sheets. Aang wandered over, entranced by the bed. It was easily the most comfortable place to sleep he could ever remember seeing. He let his fingers ghost over the material, shivering slightly as the cool slippery sensation met the tips of his fingers. He pushed his palm into the bed and was pleasantly surprised to find springs instead of hay, or just material, as he was accustomed to sleeping on. Aang glanced about guiltily for a second, and seeing only Momo in the room, he lay down on the bed and shut his eyes.

The twelve year old had to bite his lip to stop himself from gasping - it was like lying on a cloud in comparison to what he used as his bed. He hummed softly, letting his mind go blank. A small noise broke through the blanket of silence he had wound around himself - maybe a fly or something? He cracked open an eye, expecting to find a housefly crawling on the ceiling, and fell out of the bed in shock when he found Zuko hovering over him instead.

'Aaa - Oof!' came the strangled noise from Aangs throat. He looked up sheepishly at the Prince, hoping he wasn't about to be thrown in prison - only to find a slight amusement in Zukos amber eyes. 'I ... er ... oops?' Aang offered up, running a hand through his brown bangs. Zuko smirked and sat down on his bed as Aang propped himself up on his elbows.

'Do you remember me telling you that I had a different punishment in mind for you, other then death or having your hands burnt off?' Zuko asked, straight to the point.

Aang felt his stomach lurch. 'Y-yes ... '

'Well, what would you say to living here as my servant? Of course, you would not be mistreated, and you will be provided with food and lessons, if you want them, you can sleep in the palace and you can have your ... Momo ... ' Zuko added the last few points off-handedly, as if discussing the weather. 'Of course, the alternative is you say no and accept the normal punishment ... ' the Prince noted, as Aang opened his mouth, hoping the boy would agree - for some reason Zuko wanted the boy around.

'Your ... servant?' Aang asked, biting his lip. Of course, he was going to say yes - who wouldn't? But still ... 'What would I have to do?' he questioned, staring up at the Fire Prince with his steel grey eyes.

'Oh, not much. You'd have to be near me most of the time, though, in case I wanted to run an errand or something similar, but you wouldn't be asked to do anything outside of your capabilities,' Zuko replied with a casual wave of his hand.

'Well ... I guess ... I don't have much choice, really ... ' Aang replied, offering up a shy smile.

Zuko smiled slightly. 'Good. Then lets go and get you some clothes that fit,' he said, standing up again and holding out a hand to help the small boy up. Grinning as he realised he was still on the floor, Aang took Zukos hand, pushing himself to his feet, then followed the teenager out of the room.

The pair walked down several corridors, Aang looking around with wide eyes. The Palace was even bigger inside than outside - and it looked pretty big from the outside anyway. Zuko kept glancing over at Aang - just to check the boy was still there, Zuko told himself, he was silent and it would be easy for him to wander off without the Prince noticing. Zuko smiled slightly as he watched Aang tug the cotton top back up over his shoulder for the fifth time in less than three minutes - it was cute.

Wait.

Cute?

No ... not cute. Endearing ... in a little brother way. Yeah ... that was it. Zuko felt heat rising in his cheeks as he blushed, and he suddenly felt as though the silence was awkward instead of comfortable. Apparently Aang felt the subtle shift in the atmosphere too, as he blushed slightly, seemingly for no reason, and rubbed the back of his neck. Finally, after what seemed like an age, Zuko stopped outside a door and opened it.

'Sati is the one who makes all our clothes - she'll take your measurments and then make a few shirts and pants for you. We can send someone for shoes later,' Zuko said, pushing Aang towards the door. Aang looked up at the older boy, fear and nervousness swirling in his silver eyes. 'Don't worry, I'll wait out here until you're done,' Zuko added, feeling a bit sorry for the boy that had been a street urchin until a few hours ago.

Aang swallowed and then nodded, entering the room. Sati came to the door. 'Do not worry, I shall make sure I take good care of him, Prince Zuko,' she smiled, and closed the door. Zuko sighed and raised an eyebrow at Satis comment. The woman had an odd sense of humour sometimes.

'Hello there Zu-Zu,' came a smug sounding voice to his left. Zuko fought not a jump slightly at the unexpected comment.

'What do you want Azula?'

She smirked. 'Now, is that any way to speak to your sister, Zuko?'

'Yes. Now what do you want?' he snapped, turning to face her, glaring slightly.

'I'm hurt. I only wanted to talk to you about your new servant - what's he called?' she said, smirking.

Zukos eyes widened microscopically as he realised he didn't know. 'That's none of your bussiness,' he replied curtly.

But Azula noticed, and her smirk stretched a few milimeters. 'Haha, an excellent way to start off your relationship, Zu-Zu, not even knowing his name,' she sniggered.

'What are you talking about?' he said sharply, curious about that 'relationship' remark. Even though he and Azula were polar opposites, they were close, and sometimes he felt as though Azula knew more about himself than he did.

'Oh, nothing. But I would have thought he was a bit young, that's all,' the Fire Princess replied, leaning against the same wall as him, folding her arms across her chest.

'You're being stupid. You have servants younger than him.'

Azula laughed out-right at that. 'That may be, my dear brother, but they're just servants, and that's all,' she said, still laughing.

'What? If you aren't going to make sense, go away!' Zuko snapped, frustrated with his younger sister.

'Very well, brother, if you can't see what's infront of you, I shall be the first to say 'I told you so', when the time comes,' and with that, Azula left, leaing Zuko to puzzle over her words.

----

Some time later, Aang came out of the room, to find a distracted Zuko slouched against the wall. 'Bye Sati, thank you!' he said to the woman who bowed to him and replied with a 'You're very welcome, young Aang,' and closed her door.

_Aang?_ Zuko thought. So that was the boys name. He would have to remember that.

'Sati said my clothes should be ready by next week,' Aang said, smiling brightly as he walked beside Zuko. He looked over when he recieved no reply and noticed Zuko has a glassy look in his eye. 'Zuko?' he asked, tapping him lightly on the arm. The Prince jolted slightly, doing his best not to look confused.

'I'm sorry, what?' As soon as the words were out of his mouth his gave himself a mental smack. That was a stupid thing to say, a Prince doesn't say things like that, he is dignified at all times, and if he doesn't hear something, he _pretends _to have heard it! But Aang didn't notice Zukos 'slip-up' and repeated himself, smile back in place.

'Sati said that my clothes should be ready by next week, Prince Zuko.'

Zuko almost missed the statement for the second time, distracted again by the shoulder that the top had slipped down. Aang seemed to have given up on fixing it now, or he just hadn't noticed it had fallen down. 'Good. Sati is a fast worker, and the sooner we can get you out of those clothes the better.' Zukos whole face flushed red as he realised what he had just said and coughed slightly to cover his embarassment.

Zuko thought back to what Azula had said. He couldn't be _attracted _to Aang could he?

No.

Of course not.

Ridiculous.

But maybe ... ?

Zuko sighed mentally. It was going to be a lot more difficult to have Aang around than he had thought.

* * *

**A/N:** Eh? Eh? Waddaya think? I hope I got Azula right, but you never know. :/ Oh well. Likes? Dislikes? Constructive critiscism? I quite liked this chapter, I thought it had a bit of funny in. I did quite well, words wise. Longer than the last chapter, 2,530 words this time :D Me pleased. Next time it's Aangs turn to think about things, and he explores the Palace and meets Iroh. :) Good reasons to come back, ne?

I'm also chuffed that I got the second chapter up so soon after the first! I've decided that I'm gonna update the next chapter as soon as I get up to 7 reviews for this story so far! I need 4 more review, people you hear? ;P And the third chapter is in progress, so love me in review form. I also accept anonymous reviews, so no excuse.

On another note, if you happen to think of a better title, tell me please! I'm starting to dislike the one I have. :( Eh ...

Anyways, as always, review! I love it when you guys to that! Feedback it like fish for seals. I just played the horns, toss me a fishie, eh? I depend on you for food! ;D


	3. Chapter 3

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Aang gets bored and wanders off, and Uncle Iroh makes some tea and makes Aang almost as confused as Zuko.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang, rating may go up later.

**A/N: **Thank you my loverly readers for making me so inspired :D What would I do without you? Actually, I'd probably curl up in a corner and cry because no one loves me, but, eh, life goes on. I'm so glad I'm writing so quickly, because it's a mad rush at the moment for coursework and such in school, AND IT'S FINALLY THE WEEKEND! I'll write as much as I can, but I can't make any promises about updating, cause I'm going out tomorrow with mum, looking for prom dresses (Eww. Dresses.) and on Sunday Mike is coming round so I'll be busy all afternoon. :/

I'm still beta searching! No offers? :(

Anyway, thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_Karma Roo_- It wouldn't be the same without Azula poking fun at him, would it?

_Avatard -_Hehe, he really is, isn't he? X)

_PonyboySlashLove - _Zuko is a bit oblivious, but that's what makes it fun. :)

_ArrayePL - _Thank you!

_VixenReborn - _No don't do that! Here's the third chapter! It's only been two days since I published it, that's why! But I'm glad to like it so far. :) Hope this chapter is as good as the other two!

Read on for the next chapter!

* * *

Aang was lying on his back on the floor, watching Momo fly in circles above him. He was bored. Zuko had left him in here alone about an hour and a half ago, and told him not to leave the room. And he was _really _bored. He had already explored the wardrobe fully and wandered around the bathroom for a bit. Unfortunatly, there is only so much a twelve year old can do in a room with barely anything interesting to play with before he either dies of _boredom_ or wrecks the place.

Being sensible, Aang had chosen to die. He sighed, flopping his right arm over his eyes.

'Hurry _up, _Zuko! You said you'd only be gone for five minutes!' Aang groaned.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Zuko stormed in, his eyes murderous. '_Useless, _absolutely bloody _useless!_' he nearly shouted, fuming.

Aang sat up immediatly. 'What's up?' he asked, scooting out of the way as Zuko stomped over to the bed, falling onto the sheets, moaning into his hands before sitting up and looking at Aang.

'Well, I was trying to get you a bed, but they can't get one for a few days, as they'd have to get a carpenter to build one from scratch, and they're all bloody _useless!_' Zuko sighed, calming himself down. 'You don't mind sharing my bed do you? I mean, it'll just be for a few days, until your bed is made, after all,' the teen asked, hoping fervently that Aang would object - sharing a bed might be awkward for both of them, but especially uncomfortable for him, seeing as he might, _just_ be attracted to the younger boy.

Aang coughed slightly, a tinge of pink spreading across his cheeks. 'Well, I, ah, I don't mind sharing, I mean, it's not like we'll be doing anything, is it?'

Zuko had to actually stop himself from groaning and facepalming. 'No, of course not.'

Aang grinned. 'Then sure! Wait, what about Momo?' he asked, his brows furrowing as he thought about the pet he'd had for nearly all of his life.

'He's not sleeping in the bed too,' Zuko said flatly. 'He can have a basket or something.'

'Oh ... okay then ... ' Aang said, somewhat sadly. Then he thought of something that had been bugging him since he first got bored. 'Can I go and explore the Palace?' he asked, his face lighting up.

'What?!' Zuko spluttered, caught off guard at the complete switch in subject.

'Oh, pleeease? I've been stuck in this room for _ages_ and you said you'd only be gone for five minutes, but you were gone for _at least _an hour and a half and I've got nothing to do!' Aang begged, hating how childish he sounded, but he really was sick of this room.

'I guess ... as long as you don't go down the West corridor ... if you get lost you can always ask one of the servants where you are. Just make sure you steer clear of my sister and my father, okay?' Zuko really didn't want Aang wandering around the Palace on his own, but he couldn't go with him without it looking weird, and besides, he _really _couldn't be bothered moving from his bed. 'I'll be here when you get back, alright? Just make sure you don't get into any serious trouble,' Zuko said, flopping back on the bed, tugging off the armoured shoulder plates that he usually wore around his home(1).

Aang grinned and jumped to his feet. 'Thank you, Prince Zuko!' he called as he dashed out of the room, closing the door behind him, missing Momo trying to follow him and smacking into the wood. Zuko snorted, and continued pulling off his armour.

----

Aang was well and truly lost.

He had been down this corridor at least five times, but he had gotten to it a different way each time. Or, at least, he _thought _it was the same corridor. He sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. This was getting annoying. He breathed in deeply through his nose and paused. Something smelled nice ... really nice. Aang gave a mental shrug and followed his nose to the smell.

He found himself in a sort of tea room, and sitting in the middle of the floor was a chubby old man with grey hair and a pot of tea.

_'So _that_ was what smelled so good ... _' Aang thought to himself.

The man smiled and beckoned the boy in. 'Hello, my young lad, and how are you?'

Aang shuffled in nervously. 'I'm ... kind of lost ... I came in here hoping someone could help me, maybe ... ?' Aang looked hopeful.

'Of course, of course, but first to more important matters - would you like a cup of Jasmine tea?' The man asked, picking up the teapot and refilling his own cup.

'Um ... okay ... ' replied Aang, sliding over to the low table and sitting opposite the old man. Aang didn't really have much knowledge of tea, except for what Bayanai gave him when he went in to her shop.

'Ah, excellent, excellent ... I am Iroh, by the way, and I haven't seen you around here before. Have you only recently come here?'

Aang nodded, taking the steaming cup of tea and sipping it. 'I'm Aang, and yeah, Prince Zuko only brought me here a few hours ago ... I should probably get back soon, he might be wondering where I am, actually ... '

Iroh raised an eyebrow. 'So you are the young firebender my nephew has taken in, hmm?'

Aang spluttered. 'Y - you're Prince Zuko's Uncle? General Iroh? The Dragon of the West?' He instantly felt stupid. Of course it was General Iroh - how many other Irohs would there be around the Fire Lords Palace, even one this big?

Iroh smiled. 'Some call me by those names, yes. You, however, may call me Uncle Iroh.'

'But - '

'No. My nephew has taken you in and made you one of our family. I intend to treat you as such,' Iroh said, draining his cup of tea.

Aang rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. 'Well ... okay ... if you're sure ... '

'I am. So, do you know why Zuko has brought you here yet?' the general asked, not so subtly changing the conversation.

Aang blinked, confused. 'Erm ... to be his servant, he said, instead of killing me. Which I'm kind of glad about, because I would't want to die - not yet anyway.'

Iroh chuckled. 'I meant why did he make you his servant instead of killing you? Not to be cruel, but my nephew does not have the greatest control on his temper. I am sure you are a charming young boy, but Zuko is not the type to be merciful by a persons character.'

'I ... I'm not sure ... I don't know why ... ' replied Aang, scratching his head and he realised he _didn't _know - and now he was curious about it. He stood, bowing respectfully to the ex-general. 'Thank you for the tea, it was delicious. Do you know how I can get to Prince Zukos room from here?'

Iroh smiled again. 'Of course. When you leave this room, turn left and head straight down and then go through the door at the bottom of the hall. Go through that room and you'll be on the same corridor as Zukos room.'

Aang nearly slapped himself. He had been that close to getting back to Zuko all along?! 'Thank you Gen - er, Uncle Iroh,' Aang said, bowing again, and turning to leave.

'Before you go, Aang?'

The twelve year old turned to face him.

'My nephew does not like many people, and he shows he likes even fewer. You are the first person outside his family that he has ever shown any pure kindness. Head into the future with an open heart and mind, and you will be very happy.'

A confused look spread over Aangs soft features. 'I ... erm ... what?'

Iroh smiled at him. 'Do not worry. You will understand it soon enough,' and he turned back to his tea, pouring yet another cup.

Aang closed the door behind him, puzzling over what Iroh had said. Did Zuko actually like him? Was that why the Prince hadn't killed him when he could have? Sighing, Aang rubbed his eyes. He was tired and just wanted to sleep. His confusion about Zuko didn't help, and he could feel a headache coming on.

Living with Zuko was going to be a lot more complicated than he had thought.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry about the extreme short/lame-ness of this chapter, but I needed it for plot reasons. :/ Pluss Aang wanted to get out of the bedroom. :) The next chapter will be betterer, I promises! And you know _why _it will be betterer? Because Aang and Zuko share a bed! :D Yay! And I'll try and get the chapter up to 3000 words because this one barely made 2000 :'( Sorry! But I'm a busy girl and life sucks.

Anyways, review and I will give you sweets! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Aang gets further confused, Zuko gets hot and bothered and Azula teases.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang, rating may go up later, mentions of teen 'problems' and raunchy dreams. ;D

**A/N: **Yay, fourth chapter! Just a quick note, I went back and edited the last two chapters, nothing major, I just made it a bit more formal between Aang and Zuko, as suggested by the loverly: _SilverGenesis2!_ So thank you for helping, I appriciate it. :) Also, although it took me longer to update than the other chapters, it didn't take me as long as I had thought because Mikes parents suck and they took him to Manchester for the day. :P Anyways the important thing is, I managed to get it to you _before _Monday. Because I'm great. :D

Thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_SilverGenesis2 - _All feedback is loved and taken care of, thank you for the suggestion!

_VixenReborn - _Yay for surviving! Here's the next chapter, hope you likes!

_Karma Roo - _Erm ... Assumption? Aang lives in the Fire Nation Capital, so most people are firebenders, I guess ... :/ I honestly didn't think of that. Oh well.

* * *

Zuko was not a happy person. Well, that's not to say he wasn't_ ever_happy - it's just that he wasn't very happy with the current situation. He was lying in bed, as far to one side as he could get without it being obvious, and without falling out of the bed. Aang was on the other side of the bed. And seeing as Zuko had never seen the need for any nightwear, he didn't have any. And that meant they were both _very naked. _And Zuko was acutely aware of this.

Aang had come back to the room only half an hour ago and was already fast asleep. But Zuko couldn't. He was too busy trying and failing not to think about Aang, lying next to him, in his bed, _naked. _Zuko breathed in deeply through his nose and let it out through his mouth. This was going to be a very long night.

Aang wasn't asleep. He was lying under the silk sheet, pretending to sleep. He was too busy thinking about Zuko - and whether or not the Prince liked him. And whether or not he liked the Prince.

Aang had never really thought about liking anyone in a ... _sexual _way, he was only twelve, after all. He had never really thought that any of the girls in the Fire Nation were particularly pretty, but maybe that was because he liked _guys_. He had seen couples going in and out of shops together and walking around the Centre together, but they had always been a man and a woman ... did that make him _strange_? Or did that make _them _strange?

Aang creased his eyebrows together and bit his lip. He did think that Zuko was handsome, who wouldn't? The Fire Prince had a well toned body and a smooth masculine face that still had the slight shape of childhood around the jaw. And his eyes were like liquid amber, and so beautiful that they sucked you in and kept you there.

Pulling a pained expression, Aang stopped his train of thought right there. Beautiful? No. You weren't supposed to use a word like that when thinking about another boy. You were supposed to use it when you thought of a woman that you could settle down and have children with. That's what was supposed to happen. Two men couldn't have children ... But Bayanai had always said that you could be with whoever you wanted as long as you loved them ...

Did he love Zuko? Aang wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure if he was completely attracted to Zuko yet. Aang yawned, his ears popping and his eyes closing. He would have to think about it more tomorrow ... he was too sleepy to puzzle over it anymore.

On the opposite side of the bed, Zuko finally let his eyes drift closed too, letting the dark sweep of oblivion blanket his mind.

----

**(A/N: The following mini scene involves some slightly graphic Zukaang-ness. I'll leave another message if you want to skip to the bottom, so you know when it's over.)**

----

_Cool lips pressed against hot lips, as Aang straddled the Princes' lap, tugging excitedly at the material of Zukos shirt._

_'P-please, my Prince ... ' Aang moaned, his hair slicked back with sweat, as he started popping open the buttons with shaking fingers._

_'Mmm, Aang ... ' Zuko groaned in response as the young Firebenders cool fingers dusted down his chest. The Prince placed kisses along Aangs jawline and down the pale skin of his neck before suckling on the junction at the bottom, bringing a red mark to the surface._

_Aang titled his head to the side allowing Zuko better access, hissing in pleasure as his hands tugged slightly on the waistband of the teens pants, freeing the already straining erection. Sliding his small delicate hand around the shaft, Aang started to moving his hand up and down, causing Zuko to grab the boys hips and gasp out loud, leaving his marking of Aangs skin for a moment._

_'O-ohh ... Aang ... ' the Prince groaned, overcome with the sensations. Aang smirked and pumped faster. Zuko felt something building in the pit of his stomach and knew he wasn't going to last much longer when - _

_----_

**(A/N: Okay virgin minds, it's all over, safe to look!)**

----

Zuko sat up abruptly, gasping, his skin coated in a thin sheen of sweat and a rather _noticable _problem between his legs. There was no question about it - he was attracted to Aang.

Disturbed by Zukos sudden movement, Aang had woken up and looked over at the Prince to see if something was wrong - only to feel his face turn bright red as he saw that something else was defiantly 'awake', too. The twelve-year-old had only recently learned about the lower workings of his body, thanks to some of the boys that lived on the streets near where he used to, and knew that ... _that _was only supposed to happen if something very ... _pleasurable _was happening. Aang knew there was a four-ish year gap between himself and the Prince, but either Zuko _appeared _to be quite big - certainly a fair bit bigger than himself.

Still bright red, Aang averted his eyes and coughed slightly, letting Zuko know he was awake. The Fire Prince started and looked around at Aang before turning bright red himself and pulling a robe from beside the bed around himself and striding briskly into the ajoined bathroom.

Aang let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding and flopped back on the bed. He knew it was about six o'clock in the morning - growing up on the streets had made his internal body clock very reliable - so he decided to get out of bed and put on some clothes. He swung his legs out of the bed, narrowly missing Momos tail and padded over to the chest that Zuko had left some clothes for him on top of. Tugging on the underwear, he rubbed sleep out of his eyes, yawned and stretched, hearing a few joints in his back pop. Twisting his back slightly, he sliped on the cotton shirt and slacks he had worn the day before, stretching again and brushing his hair back out of him eyes as Zuko came out of the bathroom, his ... problem ... gone, but with a slight tinge of pink spread across his cheeks.

Neither quite knew what to say to the other as Zuko pulled on his usual clothes, excluding his armour.

'So ... Would you like something to eat?' Zuko asked, completely avoiding the topic of earlier, still looking embarassed and refusing to look Aang in the eye.

The young bender realised he was kind of hungry, even though living on the streets had caused him to be able to go for days without any proper food.

'Thank you, Prince Zuko, that would be wonderful ... ' replied Aang, sounding extremely formal in his awkwardness.

'Right then ... lets go,' Zuko said, leading the way to the Dining Hall.

They were both silent as walked through the corridors together, Zuko looking straight ahead and Aang staring around the halls, looking at the various ornaments and tapestries that stood around the Palace. They finally reached the Dining Hall and Zuko hissed through his teeth. Azula was already sitting at the table, helping herself to fruit.

'Damn ... That's my sister, Azula. Try not to speak to her if you can help it,' Zuko warned Aang.

Azula looked up and smirked at them as they came into the room, the pair sitting as far away from her as possible on the small ten-person table(1).

'ZuZu, you're never up this early,' Azula stated, the Fire Prince knowing she was leading up to something by the way her pale amber eyes glittered. 'Did something wake you up, perhaps?' The meaning behind her words were obvious.

Zuko glared at his sister, Aang just went bright red. Azula smirked again, taking a slice of fruit bread from a plate on the table.

'So, Aang, how are you liking it here so far?' Azula asked, turning her attention to the cherry red boy who was a chair closer to her than her brother - who was still glaring.

'How did you find out his name?' Zuko snapped, annoyed at the thought Azula might have known and not told him.

'I have my sources. Besides, you can't forbid me from using his name,' the Fire Princess grinned, knowing she had scored a point over Zuko - at least in his head anyway. 'So, Aang, what is your opinion of our home?'

Aang glanced at Zuko, worridly, before seeing the Prince nod slightly and replying to Azula.

'It's a beautiful place, Princess Azula. I am very happy to be staying here,' he said, nervously, scared of saying the wrong thing.

'Call me Azula, Aang. After all, I'm sure no such formalities exist between yourself and my brother,' the girl said off-handedly, laughing internally as the look of anger spread over Zukos face. _Azula: 2, Zuko: -5._(2)

'A-are you sure?' Aang asked, biting his lip, uncertainly.

'Of course. You'll be like the little brother I never wanted but got anyway.' Azulas version of a compliment.

'Thank you?' Aang said, the question obvious from his tone of voice.

Zuko grabbed an apple from the bowl in front of him and stood up suddenly. 'Come on, Aang, we're leaving.'

'Aww, so soon?' Azula asked, still blatanly poking fun at Zuko. 'But Aang and I were just getting aquainted!'

'Well, you can get aquainted away from us in future!' and with that he stormed off.

Aang shot a worried look after the angry Prince and grabbed some fruit for himself before running after him. 'Bye, Azula,' he called back, not wanting to seem rude.

'Ignore my brother, Aang. He can get very possesive sometimes,' Azula replied, smirking evilly, laughing as she saw a blush spread over Aangs face, knowing he knew what she meant.

* * *

(1) It's small for the series - they all seem to have huge 50 person tables in rich peoples houses. :/

(2) I stole this idea from an A:TLA spoof on YouTube :D Avatar: The Abridged Series. I think it's hilarious, but meh.

**A/N: **Yeah, I'm great. :) BUT, I didn't quite make the 3000 word target, but long chapters are not my forte ... :'( Sorry! Hey, at least it's longer than the last chapter, and hopefully a lot better. I even threw in a little slice of lemon to spice it up! :D

I only got 3 reviews for the last chapter! D: This is not good pour moi, so I'd like _at least _4 reviews for this chapter before I update please! More is great, but I'd be happy with 4. That will be my review requirement for each chapter, so yeah. :P Don't like it, see my manager. She's dead now. I had to kill her cause I was only getting 3 reviews for a chapter. LEAVE A REVIEW AND I WILL GIVE YOU MORE ZUKAANG-NESS! :D Every time you don't review a ZukAang story, Zuko and Aang split up. :'(

On a final note, I'm taking part in the ZukAang week challenge (Absolutely the most stupid idea I've ever had, considering how busy I am :/ ) and I'd love it if you popped in and gave me a review! I'd love that very much. Anyway, thanks for reading and stuff.


	5. Authors Note

**THE AVATAR ABANDONED IS ON HOLD.**

I didn't want to, but my dad has 'restricted' my laptop time, and I might have to put this on hold. I'll be writing it out, but I don't know if I'll be able to get it out as quickly as I wanted to. Once again, I am sorry, my dad's a knob.

Special appologies go to my lovely reviewers, _SilverGenesis2, Karma Roo, PonyboySlashLover_ and_ VixenReborn _for reviewing whenever I update and being loyal fans though this pretty short (so far) fic.


	6. Chapter 5

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Aang and Zuko have an 'almost' date, and share a bit about their past.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang. Possible rating increase again.

**A/N: **Huzzah! Chapter 5! I got this chapter out quite quickly considering, but don't expect it to continue, because as I said in the Authors Note, my dad sucks. I want to dedicate this chapter to _VixenReborn_, for her continual awesomeness and inspiring this chapter!

Thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_PonyboySlashLover_- I like how I update fast (ish) too. :D *Throws ZukAang-ness at you* Yay for moar ZukAang!

_Drai_- Haha, it's great, isn't it? :) I went and re-watched the abridged series after I wrote that chapter. :D

_VixenReborn - _I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who noticed about the tables! Sheesh, what's wrong with having a small, personal, family table? Gawd.

_Anitoon3_- Glad you liked it so much! I really appreciate how you went and reviewed every chapter, it makes me feel loved :D And I see Azula as a projection of my own weirdness. So I have to love her, haha.

* * *

Aang chased after the furious Prince as fast as he could. 'Prince Zuko! Wait, please!'

Zuko spun around so fast that Aang didn't have time to stop, and smacked into the Prince before stumbling backwards and landing with an 'Oof' on his behind. Zuko looked down at the twelve-year-old as said twelve-year-old looked up, a blush spreading over his cheeks.

'I-I'm sorry, Prince Zuko,' Aang stammered as he pushed himself to his feet, brushing some of the dust off his pants, before glancing back at the Prince.

'Come on,' Zuko muttered, leading the way at a less furious-and-stompy pace.

'I won't talk to Princess Azula again, if you don't want me to ... ' Aang mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, ashamedly.

Zuko sighed, slowing slightly so Aang was walking beside him. 'No ... you can talk to her if you want, it's just she has a certain ... _talent_, shall we say, for making me angry. It had nothing to do with you.'

'Oh ... ' Aang replied, as he thought about it for a second. 'Well, that's good! I don't like it when people are mad at me,' he said, beaming widely.

Zuko smiled slightly.

'Still, even if she does annoy you, it must be nice to have a sister,' Aang continued, eager to keep the conversation going. He liked talking to the Fire Prince, even if he did have a bad temper sometimes

Zuko felt awkward all of a sudden. He knew Aang didn't have a family, that he was an orphan, but he had no clue how it had happened - in fact, he didn't know much about Aangs past at all - be he wanted to, for some unknown reason. 'Do ... do you mind me asking something?' the Prince asked tentatively.

'Of course not, Prince Zuko,' replied Aang, still beaming.

'How did you lose your family?' Zuko wasn't one for tact or beating around the bush.

Aangs face fell, and he bit his lip, thinking for a second. Could he trust Zuko enough to tell him the complete truth?

'You don't have to tell me, if it's too painful,' Zuko said quickly, scared he had upset the younger Firebender - he didn't deal well with tears.

And in an instant the smile was back on Aangs face, just not quite as big as a few moments ago.

'No, I don't mind, it happened ages ago anyways. I was about five, I think, and my mum and dad and me were travelling around the Empire. We were in Ba Sing Se, and I guess my parents just decided a kid was too much hassle - they were ... kind of like nomads, always moving around from place to place - and they took me here, to the Fire Nation Capital, where I'd be safe from the other nations, and just left,' Aang finished with a shrug, not smiling any more.

Zuko kept his face impassive, but inside he was reeling in shock. Aangs parents had just _abandoned him? _What kind of people where they? Zuko vowed that one day he'd track them down and make them pay for hurting Aang like that. The couple stopped in the garden, sitting on a decorative metal bench next to a pond where turtleducks swam gently on the surface. Aang was staring out at the water, clearly deep in thought. The Prince was staring at the young Firebender in uncertainty, wondering if he could ask any more questions of Aang without upsetting him further.

'So ... What happened after that?' Zuko asked, curious to know how Aang had survived at such a young age.

'Well, at first I was pretty helpless, but a group of boy took me in and kind of adopted me as their little brother. They took care of me and taught me Firebending and how to look after myself in a fight. There was Bayanai too, of course, she was like my mother. Well, like a proper mother, anyway. She owns a little store, and she always looked after me when I needed her. She was lovely ... ' Aang said, his gaze drifting off into space as he remembered his life on the streets that felt a mile away now.

Zuko bit his lip slightly, not sure what to say to that. He wasn't sure what to make of Aang any more. He had thought the boy was just a kid that had ran away from home, but now ...

'So what about your family, Prince Zuko?' came a question that Zuko almost missed. He glanced over at the boy who was smiling slightly again.

'My family? Well, everyone knows my family ... my dads the insane Fire Lord, my mum was banished when I was little, my sister drives me up the wall, but I still care about her, and my Uncle is the only one I can really talk to, even if he uses too many tea metaphors to get any sense out of,' Zuko said rapidly, wrapping his family up in a quick little bundle, hoping to skip past them.

'Oh ... was your mum nice?' Aang said, furrowing his brow slightly at the speedy summation.

Zuko sighed. 'Yeah, she was. She always stuck up for me when my dad or Azula bullied me, and always had time for me, no matter what she was doing ... But then one night she left ... and I never saw her again,' Zuko said sadly, looking at the pond.

Aang awkwardly laid his hand on top of Zukos in an innocent gesture of comfort, but neither boy could suppress the slight shudder they felt run along their spines at the contact.

'What about your grandfather? Or your great grandfather? Didn't he start the war?'

Zuko snorted. 'Yeah, and that's all people remember him for. There used to be loads of things in the world that those two have killed or wiped out. Like the Dragons. They were the original Firebenders, and now no one can learn from them ever again because of them. And the Avatar.'

Aang tensed slightly, unnoticed by Zuko. 'The last Avatar was Roku, and my great grandfather killed him when he started the war. After that he rounded up all the Airbenders and checked all their children so that if the Avatar was reborn into the Air Nomads, like the cycle says, the would know, and could kill them before they had a chance to even try and stop the War. You know they were planning to keep on killing the Avatar until he was born into the Fire Nation, so they could use him as a weapon?'

Aang swallowed nervously. 'Really?' Zuko nodded bitterly. 'What do you think of the Avatar? If he was alive now, I mean. Would you kill him, Zuko?' the secret Avatar asked, fearing the answer, barely able to keep his voice steady and even, fearing the answer.

Zuko sighed. 'No. I wouldn't. If the Avatar is born again, I hope I can help him put a stop to the War. All I want is for there to be peace and for my mother to be able to come home without fear of being put to death.'

Aang nearly let out a cheer of joy at the statement from the Prince, but instead he settled for smiling shyly and squeezing Zukos has softly. The Prince looked over at Aang in shock, before smiling back and turning his had around so that ther fingers interlaced. 'Thank you,' he said, although he wasn't quite sure what he was thanking the younger boy for.

Smiling, Aang replied. 'Thank you, too,' although he couldn't tell Zuko why he was thanking him - that secret wasn't safe spread yet.

On the bench, the two boys moved closer together slightly, leaning into each other.

* * *

**A/N: **Wh00t, I updated! And I quite like this chapter. SQUEE! AangZuko bonding for the win! Spread the lurve! :D As you know, I want 4 reviews for this chappie, and I accept anon reviews, so show some love! :) It makes authors happy.

Again, dedications go to _VixenReborn _for her garden idea and her awesomeness!

I have no idea when I'll be able to post next, but hopefully it will be soon, because I love you all very much, and think you're great for reading and putting up with my rambly Authors Notes. *Sends cookies and hugs* Hooray! :D


	7. Chapter 6

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which there is little Zuko and Aang, but a fair bit of Ozai, Azula and Iroh.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang. Possible rating increase again.

**A/N: **I am so _insanely awesome _that I have planned up to chapter 12 already! Planning is not my thing. The next few chapters are a bit dramatic, but I think they're great! :D

Thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_VixenReborn_- Yay! And mooshy is one of the strangest feelings, haha. I feel the need to add in the word 'mooshy' now though ... And it is a plot-line! Wait until you read the next few chapters! :O Drama everywhere!

_Karma Roo_- Woo, I updated quickly! :D And THAT is exactly the reason I need a beta. -.-; And I'm too lazy to go back and fix it! D: Eh, I'll do it later, haha!

_Anitoon3_ - Yeah, sorry if that wasn't clear. Oh well, at least you get it now. :) And you'll have to wait and see in the next few chapters!

_PonyboySlashLover_- Well, that could be brought up later, maybe, maybe not. :D *PLOTPOINT AWAAAAAY!*

_xx-just a reader-xx - _Haha, screw you, ming. -.- Leave me alone to post it in my own time and not mention my whole life in a review.

* * *

Fire Lord Ozai glared at the two from his room, unseen. He had allowed his son to keep the boy he had brought home the previous day. But he wasn't happy about it. Not at all.

Zuko was not what he had wanted in his first-born son. He wanted someone who was naturally cold and ruthless. Zuko was neither. Of course, the boy did have a volatile temper, but that was one of those things that were easily taken care of - not to mention the boy always felt sorry afterwards.

He turned to a servant. 'Bring my brother and my daughter here at once. Tell them I said it was urgent.'

The servant bowed low and nodded. 'Of course, Fire Lord Ozai,' he said, exiting quickly.

The Fire Lord turned back to the window, staring out at the two boys leaning against each other, sitting by the pond. He would have to do something about that. Perhaps get rid of the boy. That might make his son see what a useless thing attachment is.

Azula and Iroh strode into the room together.

'Father?' Azula asked, bowing before the throne.

'What is it that you said was so urgent, brother?' Iroh asked, bowing as Azula had done. Even though they were brothers, it was still required of him to show respect to the Fire Lord in his room, lest he start an Agni Ki.

'It is about Zuko. And his ... _friend,' _the Fire Lord said, his lip curling in disgust. 'I am _concerned_ for my son. What would you say the relationship is between him and the boy he brought back here yesterday?'

Iroh stepped forwards as Azula glanced at him, nervously. 'There is nothing going on between Prince Zuko and Aang. They are just young boys bonding as friends. Nothing more, nothing less.'

Ozais eyes narrowed. He could tell that his brother was not being completely truthful. And he disliked lies.

'Is that so? Because I sense something else, something a little less ... _friendly._ I think I shall have to remove the boy all together.'

Both Azula and Irohs eyes widened.

'Forgive me, Father, but you simply cannot do that! Aang wouldn't harm a fly, he has no ill intentions towards Zuko!' Azula said, unable to stop herself.

Ozai scowled, turning sharply. 'You will not question my judgement! The boy shall be put to death, and anyone that warns either him or my son will be deemed a traitor and banished!' he roared. 'Now get out!'

Iroh and Azula left quickly. As soon as they had rounded the corner Azula grabbed her Uncle.

'We can't let my father hurt Aang. It would kill Zuko, even if he doesn't realise it yet.'

Iroh hummed, nodding. 'We shall have to stop my brother. You go and get Aang and Zuko, tell them to meet me at the War ship dock. We shall all have to leave, or we shall all be punished. Go and pack some things for yourself, I shall pack most of what we shall need. Be quick.'

Azula nodded and ran towards the garden.

* * *

**A/N: **Bleck, uber short chapter. :'( Me no like. But, it was an important chapter for plot and such reasons. :O The drama! The suspense! I hope you guys can forgive me for not writing this sooner and longer, but life and school and parents tend to get in the way of things. The next chapter will be so much cooler and there will even be a bit of romance and fighting! :O Lucky people!


	8. Chapter 7

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Aang and Zuko have another 'almost' moment, plans are spoiled and secrets are discovered.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang. Possible rating increase again.

**A/N: **Woo, chapter seven! I can now concentrate properly on this story, A) because it's the holidays, and B) because ZukAang week is over and I'm not writing anything else at the moment. So yes, here is the much anticipated chapter, hope you enjoy it! :D

Thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_VixenReborn - _Haha, plot twists are fun. :) And I love doing things unexpectedly. And Azula is being nice ... FOR NOW! :O

_(: - _Awww, thank you! I try to update as quick as I can, and I'm glad you don't mind the short chapters. And you'll find out about Azula in this chapter!

_PonyboySlashLover - _Yeah, I think Azula's great. AND DRAMA IS COMING! TAKE COVER!

_I LUV SETH - _Haha, glad you liked it!

_Anitoon3 - _Oh snap indeed. I really like this chapter, I think it's exciting. :D

_xx-just a reader-xx - _Happy now, ming?

* * *

Aang and Zuko were lying in the Princes room. They had left the garden a few minutes ago. And they were still holding hands. A slight blush tinged both boys cheeks in embarassment, but neither could bring themselves to let go and break the contact.

The bed sheets lay crumpled beneath them as they lay on the bed in comfortable silence. But Aangs heart was hammering in his chest. There was no question now, he knew he liked Zuko - but did the Prince feel the same.

Living on the streets, Aang knew that sometimes keeping quiet was better than telling the truth ... but he had to say _something._ Or he was going to implode.

'Prince Zuko?'

'Aang, I think you can call me just Zuko by now. There isn't much formality left between us, really, is there?'

Aang blushed at the thought of just calling the Prince by his first name - there was something slightly exciting about it.

'Well, er, Z-Zuko?'

'Yes, Aang?'

'How do you know if you like someone?(1)'

The Prince rolled over to face the younger boy. 'I don't know, really. I guess you want to be close to the all the time, and you want to make them happy and you'd stop anyone from hurting them, no matter how hard it is to do. I think,' he added as an after-thought, blushing faintly. He hoped Aang hadn't found an interest in one of the girls around the Palace - eww, definatly not his sister, that would be disgusting - the Prince wanted to keep Aang for himself, even if he wasn't brave enough to tell the boy about his feelings. Even though he kind of just had.

'But how would you tell them that you liked them? The person I like probably doesn't like me in that way,' Aang muttered, staring at the ceiling, a slightly sad look on his face.

Zuko sat up, glaring down at Aang. 'You listen to me, Aang. You are a wonderful person, and I have no idea of who _wouldn't _like you in that way! I mean, even _I -_ ' the Prince stopped short, eyes widening, realising what he just almost said. Had said. He had just wanted Aang to stop looking so sad. Zuko looked away blushing hotly, pulling his hand out of Aangs.

Aang sat up, pulling Zukos hand back into his. 'You like me? Is that what you were going to say?' he asked, his silver eyes shining.

'I ... '

'Because you never asked who I liked. Who I thought wouldn't like me back.' Zuko looked at him curiously. 'It was you,' Aang finished simply.

The Fire Prince let a smile stretch across his face as he looked at the younger boy. 'Really?'

Aang nodded. The two leaned towards each other, their eyes closing, their lips almost touching.

Azula bust into the room, shicking the boys away from each other, actually scaring Aang so much that he fell off the bed(again). Azula stared at the two for a second, figuring out what was going on in less than a second. There would be time for 'I told you so's later, she had to get the two now.

'Zuko! Father's going to kill Aang!' she said, running over to him, her eyes letting Zuko know his sister was telling the truth without her having to say anything else.

'Why?' Aang asked, confused, pulling himself back onto the bed, rubbing a hand over his sore scalp.

'He thinks there's something going on between you and Zuko. Uncle's at the War Ships waiting for us. We're going to escape before father does anything to Aang,' Azula said.

'Right,' Zuko said, jumping off the bed, grabbing a bag, stuffing some clothes into it. 'Lets get some stuff and go, quickly.'

Aang and Azula nodded, helping pull some of the clothes out of the draws, pushing them into bags. Within a few minutes Aang and Zuko had a full bag each slung over their shoulders. The hurried out of the room, Azula grabbing her own bag that she had left outside, running towards the dock where the War Ships were held.

'Come on quicker!' Azula urged, the three breaking into a sprint.

Ozai came around the corner, his face a mask of fury. 'Don't you dare!' he shouted.

'Keep running!' Azula called to Aang and Zuko, turning to face the Fire Lord, dropping her pack. 'I'll hold him off, get to the ship!'

Ozai threw a white-hot fire ball at Azula, fueled by his fury. Acting quickly, the Fire Princess ducked and hit it into the wall, causing stone fragments to rain down on the pair. She wasn't quick enough to dodge the wave of fire that Ozai kicked towards her, only just managing to stop it before she was too badly burnt.

Ozai hissed. 'You would defy me, daughter?'

'I would, Father,' she replied, sending a stream of her own blue fire at the grown man.

Aang and Zuko reached the ship that Iroh had already started and were climbing the rope ladder. Aang glanced back to see what was happening, just in time to see Azula knocked into the wall, slumping into unconsiousness.

'Azula!' Aang cried, desparate to go and see if the girl he had known for less than a day was alright, but kept climbing anyway. He reached the top of the ladder and stretched down a hand to help Zuko up, but had to drop to the deck as a ball of fire whizzed past his head, nearly decapitating him. 'Quickly Zuko!' Aang urged, helping the Prince on to the ship. As the ship began to move out of the dock, they stood together, looking down at Ozai, ducking again as he threw another fireball at them. The enraged Fire Lord blasted stream after stream of fire, which the two boys could only redirect.

Ozai smacked his hands together, creating a huge fireball at the ship that was now leaving. Zukos eyes widened, it was too big to bend away. This was it. The end, before they'd begun - he hadn't even got to kiss the boy he was in love with.

Aang realised the fireball was too big to get rid of, he glanced over at Zuko, seeing the fearful look on his face, and he jumped onto the railing of the ship, summoning his bending, _and blew the fireball right back at Ozai!_

The force of the blast knocked Aang back into the metal wall behind him, and the fireball coupled with the blast of air knocked the disbelieving Fire Lord across the dock, all the way to the opposite end, smacking him into the bricks with enough force to crack them.

Zuko stared at the unconsious Aang in disbelief - Aang had been bending fire _and _air. That could only logically mean one thing;

_Aang was the Avatar!_

* * *

(1) I'm sorry at how cliched this is, but I love this line, and I may have stolen it from many other ZukAang fics, heh.

**A/N:** Eww, I seem to be making only short chapters now. :( Meh. At least this one was longer than the last one, eh?

OMG, AANG'S BEEN DISCOVERED! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? Well, I know, but you'll have to wait til I update next - and nothing encourgages an author to update faster than a review or four! ;D So leave those review, and I pinky promise to update as fast as I can type!


	9. Chapter 8

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Iroh employs tactful parking, Aang and Zuko have a serious discussion and Azula changes her mind.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang. Possible rating increase again.

**A/N: **Yay, chapter 8! Much worship to the epic _VixenReborn_ for listening to my ideas and helping me in my hour of lameness. All credit due! Also, I'd just like to say, I feel quite mean for interupting Aang and Zuko in the last chapter, so I'll make it up to them this time. But, just so you know, if I could have a third Genre for this fic, it would be humour. ;)

Thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_I LUV SETH - _Oooh, you get to find out in this chapter!

_Shinichi1412 - _Thank you! I'm glad you like it so much! And yes, Aang did kick major Fire Lord booteh. xD

_CJ - _I'm uploading! I work as quick as I can, I swear!

_Karma Roo_ - Haha, I try my best. And yes, drama _is _fun.

* * *

Aang looked up at Zuko, his already big grey eyes seeming to take over most of his face. The Prince - or rather, the _ex-_Prince - fell tohis knees beside Aang and hugged him tightly.

'Why didn't you tell me?' Zuko whispered as Aang clutched his shirt like a frightened child.

'At first it was because I didn't know what you would do to me. And then when you said you wanted to help the Avatar end the War, it was because no good ever came to me from being the Avatar. And I didn't want you to just use me as a way to end the War,' Aang mumbled, suckered to Zukos chest like a Squidfish(1).

A shocked look came onto Zukos face as he heard the last statement. He gently tugged Aang off his chest, cupping the boys face in his hands. 'Aang, I would never do that, not just to you, I would never do that to anyone. Using people is what started this War, and I want to end it, but I would never use anyone to do it. It's a vile thing,' he said, wincing slightly as Aang encompassed him in a bone-snapping bearhug.

'Thank you so much!' Aang mumbled loudly, his face, once again, smooshed into Zukos chest.

Zuko rubbed Aangs back soothingly, trying to save his ribs. 'What did you mean by 'no good ever came to be from being the Avatar'? Surely it helped you on the streets?'

Aang snorted, letting go of Zuko. 'Sure it helped me. Whenever it rained I could waterbend a bit of it though my clothes, and I could get rid of most of the dirt that way, and when I had no place to hide from the cold in Winter I could pull a bit of Earth over me to make a kind of shelter, but what do you think put me on the streets in the first place?' asked Aang bitterly.

'What? But you said that your parents didn't want the stress of having a child with them.'

'Yeah, but I couldn't tell you the truth, could I? I couldn't tell you that when my Air Nomad parents found out I was the Avatar, they got scared and dumped me in the Fire Nation, hoping they wouldn't ever have to see me again. I mean, what kind of parents leave a defenceless five year old to take care of itself?'

A tear wound its way down Aangs cheek as he let his head thump hollowly against the metal wall he was leaning against. Zuko slid over to his side, pulling the young Airbender against him again, and carefully thumbed away his tears.

They sat in silence for a while, Aang letting his eyes dry themselves. Zuko just let Aangs small body lean against his, too deep in thought to do anything more than run his had up and down the younger boys arm gently.

'You won't leave me, will you Zuko?' Aang asked, a hint of desparation in his voice. 'Now that you know, you won't leave me like they did, will you?'

'No, I won't. I couldn't.' The ex-Prince tilted the young Avatars head to face him, his hands gentle but firm. 'I'll never leave you, Aang. I love you.' And with that, he placed his lips softly over Aangs, the younger boys'. Sparks instantly flew behind they eyes of both the boys, and they moaned into the gentle kiss, deepening it almost instantly.

Suddenly, the War Ship jolted violently, breaking the kiss for the boys, sending both of them sprawling across the deck with a yell. The ship crashed into a forest, smashing through the trees and undergrowth, Zuko and Aang sliding across the deck, still yelling. Skiding one final time, the War Ship came to a halt, the sixteen and twelve year-olds' journeys halted by the metal rail at the front of the ship.

Groaning, Zuko pushed himself up, rubbing his head. Iroh stuck his head out of the window in the control room.

'We have arrived!' the old man said cheerfully.

'We crashed!' Zuko shouted back.

'That is incorrect. I did not crash the ship - I meerly used tactful parking,' Iroh corrected.

Zuko exploded. 'WHAT?! Aang and I could have died, and you call it _TACTFUL PARKING?!'_

Aang was bent over double with laughter. Seeing Zuko furious was just too funny, especially as it seemed Iroh saw nothing wrong with his 'parking' of the ship.

'Come now, Zuko. We are near Ba Sing Se. If the Earth Kingdom found a Fire Nation War Ship carefully parked, then they would imediatly triple security, making it impossible for us to hide in the city. It just so happens, that I have packed some Earth Kingdom clothes, so we can blend in perfectly. I shall fetch them,' and with that, Iroh turned and walked into the ship.

Having calmed down, Aang pushed himself to his feet and walked over to Zuko, threading his fingers through the Princes, smiling up at him. Zuko sighed, a slight smile tugging at his own lips.

'Come on. Lets go see what my Uncle brought for us.'

----

Azula groaned painfully. Her head was throbbing - her whole body was throbbing. She wanted nothing more than to go and lie down in her room on the ship -

Azula snapped her eyes open. The ship! What had happened? She remembered fighting her father and being knocked unconsious. Had her Uncle, Zuko and Aang gotten away? Hopefully, or she would have been imprisoned for nothing.

For there was no doubt that's where she was, in a prison. Her arms and legs were bound to the small uncomfortable wooden chair she was sat on. A small lamp on what looked like a circular rail infront of her illuminated the tiny bricked cell she was in. She heard steps coming from behind her - she knew those footsteps. _Father._

The Fire Lord laid a hand on his daughters shoulder. 'My dear Azula ... I thought I had taught you better than to turn on me ... especially after what happened to your mother. You really should have considered your actions.'

'I did consider them Father. And I know I took the correct course of action.'

Ozai let out a humourless chuckle. 'I'm sure you feel that way at the moment. But we can rectify that.'

He stepped into the middle of the metal circle and clicked his fingers. The lamp began to rotate slowly.

'You are my obediant daughter.'

Azulas eyes followed the lamp.

'You will not question what I ask of you.'

Round and round went the lamp.

'You will obey any command I give you.'

And round and round ...

'You feel nothing but hatred for your traitorous Uncle and brother.'

And round ... and round ...

'You will do whatever it takes to remove their stain from the glorious Fire Nation Empire.'

And ... round ...

'And you will kill Aang.'

Azulas eyes were nothing but black pupils, glazed, unseeing, uncaring pools of black.

'Yes ... Father ... '

Ozai smirked.

* * *

(1) That would be a cross between a Squid and a Starfish. :D

**A/N: **OH MY SWEET MAMA, AZULA IS HYPNOTIZED! :O What crazy plot twist comes next?!?! You'll have to come back and find out! Because I don't know! I can't wait until the author updates next! (Person comes on and whispers in my ear) ... What? ... Wait, _what? I'm _the author? (Looks around) Ahaha, yes, I knew that! Erm ... I'll just ... leave now ... Eheh. (Sweatdrop)

Quick note: wh00p, we made 800 hits so far! Lets crank it up, people!

Anyways, as always, leave a review! If I get to 50+ reviews for this fic I'll throw in a lemon, you lucky people! ;D So get reviewin'! Just a reminder, I would love 4 reviews before I update, I accept anonymous reviews, blah blah, LOVE ME IN REVIEW FORM! Ahaha!


	10. Chapter 9

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Aang discovers he is not a fan of green, visits the circus and steals animals.

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang. Possible rating increase again.

**A/N: **Bonjour, c'est moi! J'adore le ZukAang, et ... eh ... I dunno, I'm going to fail my French. -.- Anyways, WHOO, CHAPTER 9, eh? :)

Thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_PonyboySlashLover - _I know, I'm evil, right? But Azula being evil is a good point in the story (for now, anyways ... ) It's a fun thing! Hahaha!

_I LUV SETH - _I know, I'm so awful, making her evil! But evil Azula is a fun character to write, haha.

_xx-just a reader-xx - _I'm going to stop counting your reviews unless you review properly. So it'll be even longer until I update.

_takara94 - _Yep, that's exactly what I thought of when I made a squidfish XD And the animals are adorable in Avatar.

* * *

Aang was looking in distaste at the green clothes he had on. Well, it wasn't all green, just mostly. A long green tunic with a yellow trim and beige slacks. No, not an outfit of choice.

Aang and Zuko were wandering through the city of Ba Sing Se, looking for a teapot that Iroh had 'requested', and then claimed he was too tired to come with them.

Of course, Zuko knew that his Uncle just wanted to leave him and Aang alone so they could 'bond' more, but Aang had been thrilled at the chance of spending some time alone with Zuko (even if it was shopping), so the ex-Prince hadn't put his accusations across to Iroh. Besides, he really couldn't find anything to complain about - Aang had wound their hands together and was leaning gently into Zukos side. The small weight and warmth of the body beside him was ... comfortable.

They had looked around the stalls for a teapot meeting Irohs specifications, but hadn't found anything.

'How many more teapots do we have to look at?' Aang groaned. He was going to be having nightmares about teapots if he saw too many more.

'Just until we find one that Uncle will like,' Zuko replied, thoroughly bored.

A man jumped in front of them, brandishing a bunch of leaflets. 'Hello there, Sir! May I interest you and your little brother in a coupon for the circus? Bring your mum or dad and the little one can go for free!' the man said, winking and ruffling Aangs hair.

Aang blushed bright red in embrasment, while Zuko flushed red with anger. He grabbed the unfortunate man by the collar and shoved him against a wall.

'For one, he is not my younger brother, second, my mum and dad aren't worth mentioing,' snarled Zuko and dropped the flustered man in a heap on the floor before storming off.

'Sorry about him, he gets moody sometimes,' Aang appologised before grabbing a leaflet. 'We'll be there later though, thank you, bye!' he called as he ran after the angry teen, the leaflet clutched in his fist.

He caught up with the furious teen, looping his arms around his waist, looking up at him, grinning slightly. 'What's up?'

'It's that stupid man,' Zuko grouched. 'It's just ... I don't know, Aang, I love you, but should I wait until you're older before we try and have any kind of relationship?'

Aang glared at the sullen teen, before swinging him round and knocking into the wall. 'Zuko. You said that you wouldn't leave me. You _promised _me that you wouldn't leave me. If you even _think _about breaking that promise, even if it's only temporary, I swear to the Spirits, I will personally Air- or Water- or Earth- bend you to the edge of the world and back,' Aang growled, staring at Zuko, the Fire-benders face filled with shock at the sudden agression from the younger boy.

Cautiously, Zuko nodded and Aang let a smile light up his face, kissing him softly on the lips. 'Good. Now lets go find a good teapot for Uncle Iroh,' he said, laughing at Zuko as he pulled him along.

----

'No. We are not going to the circus,' Zuko scowled, crossing his arms over his chest.

'Please, Zuko?' Aang begged, holding the leaflet out.

'No. I absolutely refuse. The circus is a ridiculous waste of time.'

'Come _on, _Zuko! I've never been to a circus before, and I'd _love _to go to one!' Aang pulled out the infamous _'puppy-kitten eyes'_, begging with his big grey eyes. 'Please?' His bottom lip started to quiver as he stuck it out in a pout.

Zukos eye twitched. In the corner, Iroh had to stifle his laughter in case he ruined Aangs chance at persuading Zuko to go to the circus. Zukos eye twitched again.

'Fine, we'll go. But only ONCE, okay?' the Prince relented.

'Really? Yay!' Aang cried, hugging the disgruntled Fire-bender, beaming. Iroh had to leave the room so he wouldn't get yelled at by his nephew for laughing.

----

Later, after the sun had set, Iroh, Zuko and Aang were walking around the circus that was just outside the Wall of Ba Sing Se. Aang couldn't keep his eyes still. He looked around at the stalls and the people practicing their bending for the crowd.

They walked past a tent with the flaps open - the wind must have blown it open. Aang glanced inside and stopped, looking again. There was a large Wind Bison in a cage. He was groaning and reaching for a bale of hay with his tongue, but it was just out of reach. Aang gasped and ran in, pushing the hay over to the Bison.

'Aang, what are you doing?' Zuko hissed, following the young Air-bender, glaring at him, leaving his Uncle to examine some of the novelty teapots alone.

'Zuko, he's a _Wind Bison!_ They belong in the wild, or at least more free than this!' Aang hissed back, petting the Bisons head. 'I'm gonna call you Appa,' he said, grinning at the animal, who growled back in aproval. Frowning, Aang stepped away from the newly christened Appa and examined the lock. He examined it for a few seconds, before smirking, and covering the keyhole with his mouth, blowing into it in a seemingly random pattern.

'What are you doing?' Zuko asked in an exasperated voice.

Aang rolled his eyes, otherwise ignoring the other boy. The lock snapped open and Aang swung the cage open, a grin of triumph plastered over his face. 'Air-bending trick. Use blasts of air to open the lock,' he said, his cheeks slightly pink from blowing.

'That's all very well and good, but what are we going to do now? The Bison is free, but we can't get it out of here without someone seeing,' Zuko replied, trying to be annoyed at Aang, but failing.

Aang peeked out of the flaps of the tent. 'Yeah, we can! Everyone's gone to watch the circus now! We can fly out of here on Appa!' Appa had climbed out of his cage and gave Aang a big, wet lick, causing the boy to laugh and hug him, jumping onto the Bisons head. 'Come on, Zuko!'

The Prince grumbled and glared at Aang and Appa, but climbed on anyway, clutching the white fur on Appas back. 'Right then,' Aang muttered as Appa shuffled out of the tent. 'If I'm right, it should be something like ... erm ... Yip yip!'

Aang and Zuko barely had time to muffle their yells as Appa jumped into the air and flew across the tents set out. They rocketed into the air, the boys' eyes streaming, their hair flying about wildly.

'OH MY GOD!' Zuko shouted as he clung to the fur on Appas back tightly. This was not a fun time for him. Aang was laughing his head off, thrilled to be in the air for the first time in over seven years. They flew over the wall, and landed in the backgarden of the small apartment they had rented. Zuko slid off, landing in a heap on the floor. Aang jumped off and landed gracefully on his feet, helping the Prince back on to his.

'We're getting a saddle for that thing.'

Aang just laughed and patted Appa on the head before the boys headed inside to wait for Iroh to return from the circus. The two curled up on a large seat that came with the apartment, Aang snuggling into Zukos side, Zuko wrapping his arms around the younger boy.

'Zuko?' Aang mumbled, his grey eyes flicking up to meet the amber ones that were already looking down at him.

'Mmm?'

'You know you said that I should only stop the War if I want to, not be pushed into it?' Zuko nodded slowly. 'Well, I think I should stop it. Without the War, I'll have nothing to be worried about - the Fire Nation won't be terrorising the world and they won't be hunting us and we can go back home,' Aang said, looking up at Zuko, almost searching for his approval.

Zuko smiled. 'I'm not going to lie, Aang, I did want you to say you'd stop the war, but I'm glad you chose to do so without me asking. Facing my father will be dangerous, and you'll need as much bending practice as you can, not to mention you'll need to master all four elements.'

Aang bit his lip, looking slightly nervous. Seeing this, Zuko pressed a kiss to his forhead. 'Don't worry. I'll stay with you no matter what. I promised, didn't I? And I wouldn't want you bending me to the end of the world and back, either,' the sixteen-year-old reassured, hugging him tightly. Aang sniggered slightly.

'So, are we going to the South Pole then?'

'What?' asked the Prince, confused with the sudden change in topic.

'There are Water-benders in the South Pole, aren't there? Plus, they have penguin-seals,' Aang grinned.

'Why not the North Pole? It's at least a days travel closer, even using Appa,' Zuko replied, raising an eyebrow at the boy stuck to his side.

'Yeah, but the North Pole only has Polar-Grizzlys, and the South Pole has _penguin-seals!_' Aang stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Zuko rolled his eyes, but nodded. 'Fine. South Pole it is. But we'll have to wait until Uncle gets back, and check it with him.'

'Check what with me?' Iroh said as he walked through the door, placing his newly purchased teapot down on the table, sitting in another chair.

'We're going to the South Pole so I can learn Water-bending and see the penguin-seals,' Aang said, smiling widely.

Iroh raised an eyebrow. 'I was under the impression that you were a Fire-bender, Aang.'

Aang and Zuko glanced at each other. They had forgotten to tell Iroh that Aang was the Avatar. Okay, so now they felt stupid.

'I'm the Avatar ... ' Aang muttered, grinning embarassedly. 'Sorry, forgot to mention.'

Iroh laughed loudly. 'Excellent. I take it that we leave for the South Pole in the morning, then?'

'We might need to leave a bit sooner, actually ... ' Aang mumbled, blushing slightly. 'I stole a Flying Bison from the circus, and he's in the back garden, eating the grass.'

Iroh laughed again, standing. 'Then we must get packing at once. I must say, Zuko, you are a bad influence on Aang.' Irohs laughs followed him into the hall and then his room. Zuko glared after the man, practically burning holes through the stone.

* * *

**A/N: **OH MY WORDLYNESS, I WROTE OVER 2000 WORDS! I am so proud of myself, ha. It's the longest chapter since my authors note. :') Awesome times. Woah, I'm nearly to 50 reviews already, and I haven't even thought about starting the lemon. Haha, I'll get started now!

Just thought I'd mention, in case you weren't sure about the creatures I'm making up, a Polar-Grizzly is a Grizzy bear and a Polar bear, a penguin-seal is the penguin things Aang goes 'sledding' on in the series (1st, 2nd episode?). I just thought Aang seemed like the type to travel for an extra day or so, just so he could go penguin-sledding, ha.

Quick note, leave a review, the more reviews I get the faster I update, 4 reviews min before I post again and I accept anonymous reviews! So push the button!


	11. Chapter 10

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Sokka is mistrustful of Zuko and Katara has her eye on Aang (according to Zuko).

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang. Possible rating increase again.

**A/N: **Sorry about the long time without an update, but I did say I wouldn't update until I got four reviews for the chapter - and now you know. I WAS SERIOUS. I mean, come on, if it was a bad chapter, I could understand, but I thought that the last chapter was quite good! So, yeah, no excuses this time, I want my reviews or no update. Plus Easter and shopping got in the way, heheh. ._. Sorry.

Thanks to the following people for reviewing:

_I LUV SETH - _Haha, I felt kind of mean putting in the old man, so I'm glad you liked it.

_PonyboySlashLover - _Good, I was wondering if maybe stealing Appa from the circus was unoriginal/cheesy. Glad you thought it was good.

_MMB - _Neato, I'm so happy you like it! Especially as this is your first ZukAang! :)

_xx-just a reader-xx_- Holy shizzles, you CAN review! And would you prefer penguin-seals or polar-grizzlies? There you go.

_Shadow Eclipse - _Thank you, I'm so glad you liked it and reviewed! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

Aang lay on Appas head, twitching the reigns when the Bison started to fly off course. Zuko was lying next to him, still asleep, snoring softly. Iroh was sat in the saddle they had picked up after their second day of travelling. It was now the morning of the fourth day, but according to the map that Aang had spread across his lap, they should be in the South Pole before noon - especially good as they didn't have too many more supplies with them.

The sun fully emerged from beneath the polar icecaps, casting a orange glow on the snowy terrain below it. Aang squinted into the sunlight, his grey eyes scanning for something.

His eyes widened and he grinned suddenly, arm shooting out to shake Zuko awake, tugging the reigns to the right. 'Zuko! Wake up! It's the Water Tribe village!'

Zuko blinked his eyes open slowly, yawning and stretching. 'What?'

'It's the Water Tribe village!' Aang said, pointing excitedly. Zuko followed the Air-Benders line of vision and wasn't impressed with what he saw. He had heard stories of the Northern Water Tribe and how they had an entire city with Palaces and monuments all made out of ice - the Prince had expected something similar of their sister tribe.

But what lay below them could barely be described as a few huts. There were about seven ramshackle tents all squished together behind a wall that had obviously been patted together out of snow and was barely 10 feet tall. The most impressive thing - and it really wasn't that impressive - was a large igloo type structure, that must have been home to the Tribe Meetings at some point in it's life, but was now in a state of ill repair.

Appa landed on the ground just outside the village, managing to knock Zuko into the snow. Aang laughed and jumped off, helping up the disgruntled teen. 'I swear, it's like he does it on purpose ... ' muttered Zuko angrily.

'Don't be ridiculous - Appa wouldn't do that, would you buddy?' Aang asked the Bison, rubbing his head. Appa just replied with a non-committal _Mmmrrrrgh. _'See? Appa said you're being silly.'

Zukos eye twitched at Aang, but chose not to say anything as a group of people emerged from behind the walls of the village, carrying battered-looking weapons, staring at the new-comers in distrust.

'Hi!' Aang called, waving to them, grinning from ear to ear. Zuko had to stop himself from face-palming.

'Who are you and what do you want?' a boy called out - he seemed to be the oldest male there, judging from the two seven year old kids that stood at the back and the girl who stood next to him - maybe a year or two younger.

'Are you the Water Tribe?' Aang asked back. The boy brandished a boomerang at him. 'Hey, we ask the questions! Who are you and what do you want?'

Aang rolled his eyes. 'I'm Aang and I came looking for a Water-Bending Master,' he answered, folding his arms across his chest. Suspicious blue eyes moved from him to Zuko. 'What about him?' Aang glanced up at Zuko. 'He's Zuko ... He just came with me because I made him,' the young Avatar replied, grinning. Zuko snorted and mumbled something that sounded like 'danger to himself and others' under his breath.

The girl took over, elbowing the boy out of the way, walking over to the two new-comers. 'I'm sorry about Sokka, my brother has the bad habit of suspecting everyone's going to attack us.'

'But Katara!' The Water Tribe girl glared at him and whatever he had been about to say withered on his tongue and died.

'Anyway, you were saying you need a Water-Bending Master?' Katara said, smiling at Aang, ignoring Zuko completely.

Aang face flushed under her attentions. 'Erm, well, yeah, that's why we came here ... '

'I'm sorry, but the only Water-Bender here is me - and I've had to teach myself what little I know,' Katara said honestly.

'Um, that's okay ... ' Aang mumbled, dissappointed, but trying not to let it show.

'You can come in and stay for the night,' said Katara, smiling, leading Aang towards the village. 'To make up for traveling such a long way for nothing.' Zuko glared at the Water-Benders back as he followed the two into the small Tribes home. Sokka glared at him.

'What?' the ex-Prince snapped.

'I don't trust you. You seem familiar,' Sokka said, still glaring.

'I don't trust you either, but that's because you seem like an idiot,' Zuko retorted, turning away from the Water Tribe boy. A snowball 'fmph'ed into the back of his neck. Zuko turned around slowly, fire in his eyes. Sokka stood there, another snowball clenched in his fist, tossing it up and catching it.

'I'm not the idiot,' the Water Tribe boy said, smirking. Aang groaned slightly, running back to where Zuko stood, knowing that this wouldn't end well if he didn't calm the teen down.

'Do you want to fight, _peasant, _because I know I could wipe the ice-caps with you!' Zuko snarled, his hands clenching into fists.

'Nephew, starting a fight would not be advisable,' Iroh called, still sitting in the saddle on Appas back - he had made himself a pot of tea, and he wasn't leaving it for anybody.

'Come on, Zuko, just leave it,' Aang muttered, tugging on the older boys sleeve. Zuko took in a breath through his mouth and let it out through his nose, calming himself, turning away from Sokka.

'Yeah, run away like your little brother suggested!' Sokka taunted. Zuko saw red and Aang didn't even have time to warn the stupid Water Tribe boy before Zuko threw a fireball at his head. Only his fast relexes saved Sokka from a severly burnt face.

'I knew it!' Sokka yelled. 'You're the Fire Lords son, and you've come here to finish us off!'

'Well it would take much to finish _you_ off, even if we had come here for that!' Zuko retorted, flames covering his fists.

Aang looked between the two, knowing if something didn't defuse the situation soon then someone was probably going to die. He jumped between the two, holding out his hands, glaring at both of them.

'Stop it, both of you! You're acting ridiculous!' Aang shouted.

'Get out of the way, Aang,' Zuko hissed, looking right through the Air-Bender, shooting daggers with his eyes at Sokka.

'Yeah, kid, I don't want to hurt you like I will your brother,' Sokka said, staring right back at Zuko.

Aang rolled his eyes, and waved his hands suddenly, blasting both of the boys across the snow, Sokka actually ending face-first into a snow-drift. 'Okay, one, I said stop it, you didn't, I stopped it for you. _Second, _Zuko is _not _my brother, why does everyone think he's my brother?' Aang muttered the last bit half to himself, not really sure of the answer. 'And third, no, you couldn't hurt me if you tried.'

Sokka pulled himself out from the snow, rubbing feeling back into his head. 'What's an Air-Bender doing travelling with the Fire Prince?'

'I came here to find a Water-Bending Master,' Aang replied, rolling his eyes and helping Zuko to his feet. 'Can you think maybe why?'

'You're the Avatar!' Katara cried out, running over, beaming from ear to ear. 'You save the World and put everything right at last!' she gushed, practically fangasming over Aang. 'Wow, this is amazing, I need to introduce you to everyone!' And with that she pulled a slightly scarred Aang in past the walls of the village, leaving a confused Sokka and a jealous Zuko behind.

----

It was a few hours later and the entire village were gathered in the giant igloo, discussing plans. One of the women had made soup which, after tasting, both Zuko and Aang had 'donated' to Sokka - just to make up for any hard feelings, of course. Iroh apparently loved the soup.

'This map should lead you straight to our sister Tribe once you reach the North Pole,' Gran Gran said, holding out a withered scroll tied with a faded blue ribbon. 'There are many Water-Bending Masters in the North Pole as the Fire Nation haven't been able to find them and flush them out.'

'Thank you very much, Kana!' Aang said excitedly.

'Just make sure you do not lose that scroll - not only is it priceless among the Water Tribes, but it would be invaluable to the Fire Lord; he would finally be able to capture the last of the Water-Benders.'

'Of course,' Aang nodded, tucking the scroll away in his tunic.

Katara raised her hand slightly, speaking. 'Gran Gran, I want to go with Aang too - if that's okay with him. I need a Water-Bending Master too, I can't train myself to make the most of my abilities, I need someone to guide me.'

'Oh, no, nuh-uh, no way is my baby sister going to the North Pole with some Fire-Bending jerks!' Sokka shouted. Katara punched him in the arm - hard. 'Oww! What I _meant _was, if she's going, so am I!'

'Don't be stupid, there's no way that Aang, you, Katara, my Uncle and I can _all _fit on the Bison!' Zuko said angrilly. Aang punched him in the arm - hard. 'Oww!'

'It's okay, Zuko, with Kanas permission, I will be staying here to help their Tribe,' Iroh beamed. 'And possibly get the recipie for this delicious soup,' he said, winking at Kana.

Zukos eye twitched slightly. 'In that case, of course you can come with us!' Aang said, grinning from ear to ear. Katara smiled back and Sokka and Zuko shared a glance which seemed to say _'Oh, no.'_

And how right they would be.

* * *

**A/N: **I don't like how I did Sokka ... he's so confrontational ... but meh, he has to be, at least in this chapter. Well, what did you think? Review and tell me, haha!

Also, I have a slight confession to make ... You remember when I said if I get 50+ reviews I would add a lemon? Well, I had already planned it for chapter 13 and I'll get my 50 reviews way before then ... So, erm, sorry. o3o But there will be one in that chapter, I promise! Don't throw things at me! D:


	12. Chapter 11

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Aang meets the Blind Bandit and Sokka and Zuko have a falling out. (Based on Book 2: Chapter 6 - The Blind Bandit)

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang, possible rating increase.

**A/N:** Whoop, more updates! And I may not be so swift in updating, my computer has an STD and it needs sorting. T^T Feel pity for me and my infected computer! Another excuse is that I really can't write romance at the moment seeing as I have been going through a rough patch in my own romance life. So yeah. Pity again.

Also, I'd just like to say YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! We made 50 reviews with the last chapter! The next goal is 100 reviews, haha! The lemon I promised will have to be in later chapters, sorry. I kind of added in a few extra chapters without meaning to. No clue how I managed it, though. So yeah. Weirdness, heh.

Thanks to the following people for reviewing!

_I LUV SETH - _I thought I made Sokka kinda OOC, glad you didn't think so! ^^

_noien-sama _- Thank you so much!

_PonyboySlashLover - _Yeah, I wondered that too. I guess cause it's unusual for two boys to be travelling together or something. :/

_xx-just a reader-xx - _I don't like you. AND I CAN'T BELIEVE I ADDED IN ANOTHER CHAPTER BY ACCIDENT!!!!

* * *

'Right,' Sokka said, taking charge. They had landed in the Earth Kingdom a few minutes ago and after making sure Appa was safe, they had headed into a village to pick up some supplies, and, in Aangs case, a few tips on Earth-Bending. 'We'll all get the supplies we need first and then we'll go looking for any Earth-Benders, okay?'

Zuko snorted slightly, managing to mask it as a cough under Aangs reproachful stare. 'Okay then!' Aang said cheerfully. 'We'll meet back here in an hour or so, then?'

'What? No!' Sokka spluttered, but Zuko and Aang had already wandered off.

' ... You do realise they'll be gone pretty much all day, from the looks of things?' Katara asked her brother. (1)

'Of course I do!' Sokka snapped back. 'Oh, well, we might as well go and find something to eat while we're here.'

Katara rolled her eyes at Sokka. She would be the one to get stuck with him.

Aang and Zuko were wandering through the streets aimlessly, not really looking for any particular object or item, just glad to be alone together.

'So, any ideas what to do?' Aang asked, interupting the comfortable silence that had grown between the two. Zuko shrugged and opened his mouth to reply, why a man jumped infront of them, brandishing a bunch of leaflets.

'Hello there, Sirs - Ahhh!' He broke off with a shriek and dropped his leaflets as Zuko bunched his shirt in his hands. It was the same guy as the one back before they went to the circus. 'Don't hurt me!' he squealed, dropping the leaflets and throwing his hands up to protect his face.

'You again!' Zuko snarled, pushing the guy into a wall. Aang looked in interest at the leaflets scattered across the floor.

'Master Yu's Earth-Bending Academy?' Aang muttered curiously, stooping to pick one up. He glanced over at Zuko who was still threatening the Leaflet Guy. Sighing he poked Zuko in the ribs. 'Leave the Leaflet Guy alone, he's only doing his job,' Aang said before wandering off down the street. Zuko shot one last glare at the Leaflet Guy and dropped him, the man sliding into a heap on the floor. Snorting, the ex-Prince hurried after Aang.

'Can we check this out please?' Aang asked Zuko in a pleading voice. 'This Yu might be the guy I need to teach me Earth-Bending!'

Zuko looked at the leaflet with his eyebrow raised. 'If we do go and see _'Master Yu'_ then have you got enough money to pay him? I doubt he teaches for free,' Zuko said, sceptically.

'I don't need money,' Aang replied smugly. 'There's a coupon on the back and it says the first lesson's free!'

----

Zuko was watching the lesson in interest. He hadn't had much chance to see Earth-Benders in action, seeing as this was the first time he had ever left the Fire Nation in his life. Aang was in a dark green earthbender training uniform and a round helmet - much to the younger boys distaste. Zuko had laughed outright when he had seen they other boys Aang was to be doing the lesson with. They were all younger than the Air-Bender by about three or four years and smaller than he was by a head. However, they all stood like statues, looking forward, and Zuko couldn't help but be slightly impressed by this obvious show in discipline. Zuko chuckled into his hand when he saw Aang hurridly copy them as Yu returned.

Aang was nervous. This didn't seem like such a good idea afterall. For one, he was back in ugly yellow and green clothes with a stupid hat to cap it off. Second, there were three other boys in his row and they were all stood opposite another row of boys - except _that _row all had rocks. Really big rocks that were more like boulders than rocks. And his row had nothing to defend themselves with.

'Take your stances,' Yu snapped.

Aang looked around confused as all the other boys took the same stance. He opened his mouth to say he had no idea what to do, but Yu cut him off.

'Now, strike as if you're punching through your opponents head!' he continued loudly, striking a pose.

Aang looked alarmed for a second, and started to raise his hand to say something, but before he could say anything, the boy opposite Aang kicked the boulder into the air and then chucked it across at him. The rock hit the Air-Bender square in the chest and knocked him backwards into a large ceramic pot across the grounds of the Academy. The pot exploded in an impressive cloud of dust and clay fragments. Master Yu approached Aang purposfully as Zuko tried to stop himself from laughing out loud and offending the winded Avatar.

'So,' Yu said with a large smile plastered across his face. 'Are you ready to commit to more lessons? If you pay for the whole year in advance, I'll bump you up to the next belt.'

Aang, buried in the rubble, just groaned in response as more debris slid down over him.

----

About twenty minutes later, both of the boys had left the Academy, Aang back in the brown slacks and orange tunic that he had bought when they had first left the Fire Nation.

'Well, that was a waste,' Aang grumbled, brushing some left-over bits of rock and dust from his hair.

'I don't know,' Zuko replied, grinning. 'I thought it was pretty good.' Aang punched him in the ribs, a sour expression on his face, smirking slightly as the ex-Prince let out an 'ouch' and rubbed his side.

Sokka and Katara turned around the corner and Sokka marched up to them, glaring. 'Where have you been? We've been looking for you two everywhere!' he scowled.

'Since when did you become our mother?' Zuko retorted, glaring at the Water Tribe boy.

Sokka snapped something in reply, but Aang had stopped paying attention. Two of the boys from the Academy were walking past, talking loudly.

'I think The Boulder is gonna win back the belt at Earth Rumble 6,' the first kid said, gesturing wildly.

The second boy snorted. 'Yeah, right. He's gonna have to fight his way through the best Earth-Benders in the world to even get a shot at the champ.'

Aang ran over to the boys, pushing through an arguing Sokka and Zuko. 'Excuse me, but where is this Earth-Bending tournament held, exactly?' he asked them politely.

The first student looked down at Aang for a moment, before he replied. 'It's on the Island of Noneoya – none o' ya business!' he said as both he and his friends laughed loudly and walked off, obviously pleased with themselves.

Aang scowled as Zuko, Sokka and Katara walked up behind him, Sokka laughing. Katara and Zuko just looked pissed at the boys.

Sokka wiped a tear from his eye as he stopped laughing. 'Ha, ha! None o ya business - I got to remember that one,' he muttered, still grinning.

Katara smiled and puts her hands on Aangs shoulder, not noticing the glare that Zuko shot at her.

'I'll take care of this,' she said in a comforting tone, again missing Zukos glare and Aangs slight look of annoyance at being babied.

Katara ran after the two boys who were turning down an alley, waving her hand in the air. 'Hey strong guys, wait up!'

Zuko and Aang shared a look, while Sokka was examining a bag he had bought. 'You know, I really don't need this bag, why did Katara let me buy it?'

Katara came back around the corner. 'Look what I got! Two tickets to go and see Earth Rumble 6!' she said proudly.

'How'd you get them to give up their tickets?' Zuko asked suspiciously as Aang just snatched them delightedly.

'Oh, a girl has her ways,' she said, smiling.

Back in the alley the two boys were frozen to the wall in shock - and in a hefty amount of ice.

* * *

(1) I'd just like to say, that Katara and Sokka don't know that Zuko and Aang are together, they just think that they're very good friends ... or something. Katara has her suspicions though.

**A/N:** Yay, chapter finished! Awesome win! The rest of the episode in in the next chapter, so come back later! I thought it would be good to end it there, because I just love that bit on the episode, haha. Katara does kick some Earth-Bender butt, heh.

Also, I owe many thanks to avatarspiritmedia(dot)net! They have all the transcripts from the Avatar episodes and they have been MUCH help with this chapter as I can't watch the episodes on my laptop. Diseases on your hardware arn't fun! Make sure they use protection when interfacing with other hardware! There are many bad things out there, haha!


	13. Chapter 12

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Aang meets the Blind Bandit and Sokka cries and Zuko wanders off. (Based on Book 2: Chapter 6 - The Blind Bandit)

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang, possible rating increase.

**A/N: **Right-o, I'm back schweet hearts! Dija miss me? I know I did. I would like to say, this chapter is dedicated to: **Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan** because YOU were the only one to notice that I DID NOT MISS OUT SOME EPISODES! And therefore you are the only one exempt from reading the following rant. The rest of you read or be _confused_.

ALRIGHT. LISTEN UP. There was some mild confusion over the last chapter, so let me explain, but first: I WILL WRITE THIS ONCE, AND ONLY ONCE, SO PAY ATTENTION. Or, I guess you could just reread this bit, but that's a bit lame. _Anyway._ Here goes.

No, I did not miss out a few episodes! I will write (my version of) them in, but in a different order! This is MY rewrite of the cartoon, so what I say goes. First, Aang was in the Fire Nation, then he ran away with Zuko and Iroh to the Earth Kingdom. He went to the South Pole to find a Water-Bending Master, finding none, he, Zuko, Katara and Sokka went _back _to the Earth Kingdom on their way to the North Pole. While they're there, Aang decides it would be a good idea to find an Earth-Bending Master, and there you have it! They haven't reached the North Pole yet, but they will do, WHEN I SAY, SO STOP TELLING ME I MISSED OUT PARTS OF MY OWN STORY, CUZ I DIDN'T! *FRUSTRATION!*

Okay, rant over, live long and prosper and all that jazz. Thanks to the following people for reviewing! (P.S.: Holy crapmuffins, I got 15 reviews for the last chapter! I should update slowly more often! JUST KIDDING, DON'T KILL ME!)

_Sugarpony -_ I have a rant up there (Points to above this) which should explain everything.

_I LUV SETH - _I have to say, I loved the little bit of Katara-pwnage in that episode.

_PonyboySlashLover_ - No, it's all in that rant up there ^^^^^^ Glad you liked it anyways.

_VixenReborn -_ It's okay, I haven't been updating much, so we're even stevens. ... please don't kill me.

_Anitoon3 - _Heheh, I aim to please.

_x-just a reader-x _- Dude, she's completely lame. It's only my skill as a writer that makes her seem awesome.

_blackrose1993 - _Chapter plus lemon will be somewhat delayed. . Sorry. Glad you thought it was good though, and when I get around to it, the lemon will be for you.

_noien-sama _- As much as I hate it, yeah, there will be slight Kataang, but only on Kataras side and because she's an evil bitch (Sorry, I dislike her slightly)

_HeartAngel - _Old computers suck, and mine did survive. Unfortunately my free-time hasn't.

_Zbbal - _Um, updated? About a month or so since you reviewed? *Cowers* Please no killing of teh authuuuurrrr ...

_Lala - _Here is moar! *Throws chapter at you*

_foxykitsuneyouko - _Next chapter pour tu!

_milkchocolatehot64 _- NEW CHAPTER MORE FUNNIES.

_Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan - _I would just like to say that you are my favourite reviewer right now, because you understood my fic perfectly and didn't assume I'd left bits out. So that you for that. This chapter is for you, in case you didn't notice I'd dedicated it to you further up.

_Savage Deathbite_ - The fic is continued and will be until it is finished! So yeah.

_ShortFogHornXD_ - More for the purpose of reading!

_Talltree-san_ - Glad you liked it, here's the next chapter!

* * *

Some time later, Aang and Zuko were winding their way through the crowds in the arena of Earth Rumble 6. Sokka and Katara had already taken their seats, but Aang had hung back to ask where the fighters were, only to recieve a gruff 'No autographs' and a hard shove in the opposite direction.

Aang was still grouching about the knock back when he spotted Sokka and Katara, and grinned widely. 'Hey, look, they got us front row seats!' the excitable Air Bender announced to Zuko before dashing off to get there before anyone could steal his seat - not that that was likely, considering they were the only people anywhere near the front.

'I wonder why no-one else is sitting here?' Zuko muttered as he sat down beside his friends. A moment later a boulder came whizzing through the air towards them, only just missing their heads.

'I guess that's why,' Aang muttered, while Sokka cheered loudly (and obnoxiously).

Suddenly from behind the group a large Earth column rose from the ground, with a man stood on top. 'Welcome to Earth Rumble 6! I am your host, Xin Fu!'

Cheers broke out as he announced this, and Aang, Zuko, Sokka and Momo all looked towards the Arena, while Katara just sighed and pulled a bored face, obviously sulking.

'This is just gonna be a bunch of guys chuckin' rocks at each other, isn't it ?' she asked, scowling slightly at her brother, as though he was the one who stole the tickets from the two boys in the alley

'That's what I paid for,' Sokka replied, his excitement obvious.

Xin Fu interupted, explaining the rules of the contest. 'The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring and you win.' With that, he Earth Bended himself back to the announcers tower and continued, while pointing to a huge muscle-bound guy with a tattoo, who grinned at the crowd, saluting them.

'Round one! The Boulder versus The Big Bad Hippo!' The guy with the tattoo must have been the Boulder, because there was no way the other guy, who looked exactly like a hippo, would not call himself 'The Hippo'. The Hippo roared, and the Boulder grinned insanely at him.

'Listen up, Hippo. You may be big, but you ain't bad!' Here he winked at a few of the ladies in the stands. 'The Boulder's gonna win this in a landslide.'

The Hippo raised his arms high in the air, roaring again. 'Hippo mad!'

'Oh, Agni,' Zuko muttered, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. This was so fake. The Boulder Earth Bended a boulder at the Hippo, but the fat hippo-like man just caught it in his mouth, crunching it to little pieces before spitting it out. Then he started to jump up and down, making the whole Arena shake do to his weight. Katara, Aang and Zuko all had similar thoughts at that moment: _'I really hope I never end up being able to do that.'_

The Boulder wobbled backwards, almost on the verge of losing his balance.

'Unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen! The Hippo is rocking The Boulder!' Xin Fu cried out, the surprise in his voice far from convincing.

The Boulder staggered the edge of the arena, looking like he was about to fall before quickly Earth Bending a sheet of rock out of the side of the ring and throwing it at the Hippo. It hit his back and made him turn around to face the almost fallen Earth Bender once more, with an almighty roar. The Boulder, with a tremendous effort and the the excitement of the crowd, managed to Earth Bend the Hippo off the floor and throw him over the side of the arena, to huge applause and cheering.

'The Boulder wins!' shouted Xin Fu as the crowd celebrated. The Boulder raised his arms in victory.

Katara turned to Aang. 'How about The Boulder? He's got some good moves.'

Zuko snorted in disbelief. Aang hit Zuko in the arm lightly, shooting him a _'Don't be rude'_ look, before turning back to Katara and replying hesitantly. 'I don't know. I think I need a teacher who listens to the Earth. He's just listening to his big muscles. What do you think Sokka-?'

Sokka wasn't paying attention to the conversation between Aang and his sister, instead cheering at the Boulder excitedly. 'Ha ha! Whoo!' he whooped. The other three took one look at Sokka and face-palmed.

'Next, the Boulder versus _-_ Fire Nation Man!' announced Xin Fu. The crowd booed as the poor guy walked out waving a flag and smiling, oblivious to the anger in the crowd.

Sokka put his thumbs down, booing at the man. _'_Booooo! Boooooooooo!'

Fire Nation Man stood and adressed the crowd. 'Please to rise for Fire Nation national anthem!' he announced, befor starting to sing - badly. _'_Fire Lord, my flame - ' Here he dropped to his knees, making Zuko and Aang cringe at the awfulness of the whole general scene. ' - burns for thee!'

The crowd was booing even more loudly than before and had started throwing rocks. Sokka joined in, grabbing one and lobbing it into the Arena, yelling, 'Go back to the Fire Nation!' Aang and Zuko glared at the Water Tribe boy. The stone that Sokka threw hit the Fire Nation Man on the head, pinging off somewhere. Sokka punched the air, but before the Man could should at him he was sucked into the ground by the Boulder, who lifted himself up on a huge pillar of earth. The Fire Nation Mans face turned instantly from anger to terror.

'No. No please!' he begged unable to defend himself. The Boulder just grinned and jumped off, as if he was doing a canon ball into a swimming pool. As the Boulder hit the ground, the Fire Nation Man was shot out of the earth and sailed straight into the giant boulder that had landed near the gang a few minutes ago. The rock smashed upon impact and the Fire Nation Man was out cold.

Sokka grinned, looking at the unconsious man. 'Yeah! Whoo! The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the dirt!' To the three Benders' embarassment Sokka started pulling faces and taunting the K.O'd Fire Bender, shouting: 'Yeah! Whoo!'

In sync, they all slid across the benches away from Sokka, looking determindly in the opposite direction, prentending that he wasn't there - and if he was, they didn't know him.

The Boulder defeated every challenge that the Arena threw at him - a guy who called himself the Badger Mole Man (although he looked more like a gopher cat), a thin man dressed in green and yellow (Aang cringed at the colour scheme) and a weirdo who had his face painted. They were just the ones who managed to last longer than a minute.

'Now,' Xin Fu shouted across the crowd, gesturing wildly. 'The moment you've all been waiting for. The Boulder versus your champion … The Blind Bandit!' The crowd cheered madly, but Sokka and Aang just stared at the Champion (Katara was filing her nails and not paying attention and Zuko ... Well, he'd gotten bored and wandered off somewhere). The Champion was a young girl dressed in a robe of pale yellow with green sleeves and shorts. Two beautiful women took her cape and Champions belt.

Katara looked up from her nails to stare at the girl standing in the Arena, soaking up the cheers of the crowd. 'She can't really be blind. That's just part of her character, right?'

Aang examined the Bandits empty white eyes curiously. 'I think ... she _is_ ... ' he muttered, resting his chin in his palm, watching intently.

Sokka chose that moment to butt in. 'I think she is ... GOING DOWN!' he yelled, partially deafening Aang and scaring him off his seat and on to the floor with a 'thump'.

The Boulder was standing with his arms crossed, tapping his foot. 'The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl,' he announced.

The Bandit pointed a finger at him, grinning. 'Sounds to _me _like you're _scared, _Boulder,' she retorted.

Aand smirked at the look of confusion and hurt on the Boulders face as the Bandits' words penetrated.

'The Boulder is over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to crush you,' the fighter announced. 'In a ROCK-A-LANCHE!' he continued in a loud voice, making dramatic gestures which were completely wasted on the blind girl who just pointed at the Boulder again.

'Whenever you're ready ... The Pebble.' She threw her head back and laughed loudly.

'It's on!' the Boulder shouted. Despite his bravado, Aang could see the Earth Bender sweating heavily with nerves.

The Boulder swung his foot down, hitting the earth with a thud. The Bandit opened her arms and stepped forward slightly, preparing an attack. As the Boulder took a second step the girl slid her right foot out quickly, sending a small, fist sized clod of dirt across the floor straight at the bellowing man. As it reached him, it veered to the left and caught the Boulders foot making him move into an involuntary, painful looking full split.

Most of the men in the Arena winced at the sight and a few even looked away. Sokkas look of excitement fell from his face and Aang was just staring at the Bandit with a look of incredulity.

A pained gasp came from the Boulder. 'Ooh!'

Taking advantage of her opponents incapactitated state, the Bandit smirked and made a chopping motion with her right hand, making stalagmites erupt from the floor and send the Boulder flying out of the Arena where he slammed into a wall before sliding down to the floor.

The Arena erupted into cheers as Xin Fu shouted over them. 'Your winner, and still Champion, the Blind Bandit!'

Sokka slumped over and was crying into his hands. 'No! How could he loose!' Katara turned to Aang, a confused look on her face. 'How did she _do _that?'

Aang didn't turn to look at Katara as he spoke. 'She waited ... and listened.'

Xin Fu jumped down from his hiding spot and held up a small green sack in his hand. 'To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!' He paused for a moment for effect. 'What? No one dares to face her - ?'

'I will!' Aang shouted over the silent crowd, standing up suddenly. Xin Fu looked worried for a moment before seeing Aang and smirking. Aang jumped down to the Arena, closing the gap between himself and the Bandit.

'Go Aang! Avenge the Boulder!' Sokka shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth. Aand just rolled his eyes.

'Do people _really_ want to see _two_ little girls fighting out here?' The Bandit asked the crowd, smirking. The people in the stands 'Ooh'ed at that, but Aang just put his hands up; the universal sign of peace. Too bad she couldn't see it.

'I don't really want to fight you,' Aang explained. 'I want to talk to you.'

'Boo! No talking!' Sokka shouted, waving a fist. Zuko smacked him in the back of the head. 'Don't boo at him,' the Fire Bender scowled. Katara and Sokka shared a '_when-the-heck-did-he-get-back?' _look.

Aang ignored Sokka and took a step towards the girl. She smiled as soon as his foot touched the floor and stomped the ground, launching Aang into the air with a large rock. Aang landed softly behind the now upset-looking girl.

'Someone's a little light on their feet,' she snapped. 'what's your fighting name, the Fancy Dancer?'

Aang smiled and shrugged. She threw another huge rock at him, but the Air Bender just somersaulted over her.

'Where'd you go?' she scowled, whipping around.

Aang landed silently behind her, putting his hands up again. 'Please, wait!'

'There you are!' she whirled around, raising a boulder and throwing it at him in a straight line, like a bullet. The crowd cheered, expecting a win from their Champion, but Aang jumped into the air and blasted the rock back with a jet of wind, knocking the startled Earth Bender off the top of the Arena. There was silence for a second before the crowd erupted into even louder cheers. Aang ran to the top of a set of stairs from the Arena where the now former Champion was walking away.

'Please, listen!' Aang called desperately. 'I need an Earth Bending teacher, and you're the only one who can teach me!'

'Whoever you are, just leave me alone,' the Bandit muttered quietly, scowling. She opened a door in the wall with a stomp of her foot. Aang jumped down the steps and ran towards her. She walked through the newly created doorway and closed it with a motion of her hands.

'Wait!' Aang shouted in vain as he skidded to a halt infront of the door, too late. He let his face fall into his hands and slumped against the wall. Zuko came over and hugged Aang, knowing the younger boy was upset. Sokka ran up to the pair grinning madly, holding the money, the belt now clipped around his waist, and slapped Aang heartily on the back.

'Way to go, Champ!'

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A/N: YES! IT HAS BEEN FINISHED! Homigawsh, that took me a whole day to write, inbetween cleaning and all kinds.

Right, so I know I don't deserve it, but 3 reviews before next chapter, sil vous plait? Merci. And with that, I bid you farewell until the next exciting installment of 'The Avatar Abandoned'!

Quick extra note: I'm writing another fanfic in the 'Danny Phantom'-verse, so if you're into that cartoon, read it! *Cough cough hint hint wink wink*

NOW REVIEW MY LOVELIES!


	14. Chapter 13

**The Avatar Abandoned**

**Summary: **Aang wasn't frozen for 100 years, he wasn't even born in the Eastern Air Temple. He was born into a family of travelling Air Nomads who were living in the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se. However, when he was five, his parents discovered him playing with little figures made of fire; even though he was an Air Bender. Knowing their son could only be the Avatar - the first in over 100 years, they panicked and abandoned him in the Fire Nation, hoping they would never have to see him again.

**Chapter Summary: **In which the Blind Bandit runs away and Aang and Toph have a heart to heart. (Based (loosely this time) on Book 2: Chapter 6 - The Blind Bandit)

**Warnings: **AU/AR, slash, Zukaang, possible rating increase.

A/N: Excellent stuff, I'm already back with a new chapter! Isn't life grand? No, wait, that's me. This chapter is where I completely derail the episode, because _NONE _of this happens in the series. Complete remake, eh? *Waggles eyebrows* Oh yes. SO READ!

Thanks to the following people for reviewing (despite my very long absense):

_Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan - _Yeah, I felt kind of grotty basically rewriting that part, but I had no idea how to change it. This chapter is completely orginal though! Good times, eh? And thank you a lot for pointing that stuff out, I might have to change a few things to make it work now. Urk. I'm glad you noticed that though, otherwise I would have got to the chapter and been like ' ... FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDGE!'

_I LUV SETH_ - Hehe, glad you thought it was good. I wasn't too keen on that chapter though, it was basically the original episode written out and changed slightly.

_prepare4trouble - _Well, I know that Zuko would be worried, but I haven't found a good spot to put it in. ((Lmfao, that's what she said.)) But I'll try and find a bit where I can get Zuko to think about his sister. Maybe next chapter? And Iroh will definately be coming back, he's too awesome to just bring him in for a few chapters then leave him in the South Pole!

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**Chapter 13**

'I need to find out who she is though!' Aang tried to reason with the guard who had told earlier him that the fighters didn't give out autographs.

'Look kid, I've told you before, and I'll tell you again, I _can't _tell you where she lives _or _who she is. I don't know!' the man said gruffly, folding his overly muscular arms across his chest.

'Isn't there anything you could tell us that might help us track her down?' Katara asked, batting her eyelashes.

The guard paused for a minute, thinking. 'You can't be telling a bunch of fans, alright ... ? And don't be telling anyone that I told you either, I got a family to support. But you look like honest kids. All I know is that the Bandit lives somewhere in the fancier parts of town, in one of those 'apartment' things they've started building, alright?'

Aangs face practically split in two as he grinned. 'Thanks! I really appriciate it!' he cried, running off.

'Wait up Aang!' Sokka cried as he, Zuko and Katara all chased after the excited Air Bender.

'Aang, lets think about this,' Zuko said after the group had finally caught up with him. 'This Bandit girl could be almost _anywhere _in the whole city.'

'Nu-uh,' Sokka butted in, loving to point out something that Zuko had missed. 'She's living in an apartment building. And there's only gonna be a few of them. So we can easy track her down if we split up!'

Katara ran back up to the group. 'Look what I've just bought!'

'A new hairbrush?' Zuko muttered so that she couldn't hear him. Aang flicked his wrist subtley, so that the Water Tribe siblings didn't see.

'What did you get this time?' Sokka asked his sister.

'I got a map of the city,' she grinned.

'So?'

'_Sooo, _it says where all the buildings are. Including - '

'The apartments!' Aang finished for her, catching on. 'That's great, Katara! Where are they, then?' Peering over Kataras shoulder, he tried to find them, but Katara stepped away from him, examining the map herself.

'Well, there's five apartment buildings, and there's only four of us, so we should split up and look through one each and then meet up to search the last one together,' Katara said, tapping the map with her finger. 'I'll do this one here, Sokka, you can do the one which is north from here, Zuko, you can get the one that's right down this road,' the told him, pointing to her left. 'And Aang, you can get the one that should be about two or three miles stright ahead. We'll meet up here after we've looked around them, alright?'

'Okay!' Aang cheered. 'See you guys later!' and with that, he zipped off through the alleyways and around the buildings before they could say anything to him.

-.-.-.-

Aang was officially bored. At first it had been a great excitement; seeing the towering structure of the apartments, looking around the place, knocking at all the apartment doors, almost like an adventure. But after the seventh door had been slammed in his face, his amusment and enthusiasm was starting to wane. By the time he had asked for 'The Blind Bandit' in at fourty third door (Fourth floor, third room along, hehe) any energy he had to be excited and enthusiastic was long gone.

The Air Bender was now on the sixth floor and knocking at the seventh door along the corridor. As the door opened he started to ask if the Blind Bandit was there when he realised - the girl at the door _was _the Blind Bandit. She snarled as she heard his voice.

_'You!_ You've taken my title and my belt, can't you leave me alone now?' she shouted, going to slam the door on him, but Aang stuck his foot in the way, slipping through the door.

'Please, listen to me! Just for a minute!' Aang begged, making the girl pause.

'Well, I hate you for stealing my title, but you _do _sound horribly pathetic, so I guess I could give you a few minutes,' the small ex-Champion said in a matter-of-fact voice, going to sit down at a table. 'Besides, you're already in my home now, so you might as well stay.'

Aang grinned, sitting opposite her. 'Thanks, I really appriciate this,' he grinned at her.

'Whatever,' she snorted, leaning back on her chair, propping her feet on the table. 'I'm Toph. Are you going to tell me your name, or am I calling you Twinkle Toes?' the Earth Bender asked sarcastically.

'I'm Aang,' Aang told her holding out a hand for her to shake. In response she just spat into a spitoon made of clay near her feet. Aangs outstretched hand shiveled up and he tucked it away quickly. 'Anyway ... I came to ask you to be my Earth Bending teacher,' came the hurried confession.

Toph raised her eyebrows. 'What? Why? Surely you could learn better from someone with more experiance and someone who could actually _see _what they're teaching you?'

Aang shook his head. 'No, I don't think so. The way you Earth Bend is much better than anything else I've seen. You actually _listen _to the Earth and the Earth listens back. Most Earth Benders just listen to force and use it as the Bend, but you don't. You use skill and talent and _I _need to be able to do that!'

'Why should I teach you anything? You stole my title and now I'll have to work my way up from the bottom again,' Toph said, turning her head away.

Aang bit his lip. Should he tell this girl who he barely knew, who could go and tell Ozai? But this was his only chance of getting a half-decent Earth Bending teacher. 'I'm trying to take down Ozai,' he told her. 'I'm trying to get the world back to the way it should be, but the only way I can get that to happen is if _you _teach me Earth Bending.'

'What has Earth Bending got to do with stopping Ozai?' Toph asked curiously, pulling her legs off the table, rocking forwards on her chair, leaning in, putting her chin in her hands, frowning slightly.

'I have to master all the Elements. I'm the Avatar.' Aang scrunched up his face, waiting for laughter or shouting or anything. He opened his eyes slightly, looking at the small girl. Suddenly she stood up.

'Alright then, let's go.'

'What?' Aang asked, nonplussed, his expression slack.

'Well, you want me to teach you Earth Bending, I'm assuming you don't know the others, and even if you did, you'd still have a camp set up somewhere, right?' she said, grabbing a bag and chucking some stuff in it.

'You just believe me? And you coming with me? Just like that?'

Toph pulled a face. 'Well, duh. Since you took my title, I won't get the money I need to pay the rent on this place, so I'd be getting kicked out anyway. I might as well come and live with you for free,' she said nonchalantly.

'What about your parents?' Aang asked curiously.

Toph stopped for a second, before sniffing and continuing tossing her stuff in her sack. 'I haven't seen them for years. They're rich people, you see, famous for their Earth Bending abilities. When they found out I was blind and could probably never see anything, they left me in the tunnels near here. I was about one or something, I don't really remember it that well. My sister found me later, and told me what had happened. She's eighteen or something and she has a family away from out parents, so she doesn't listen to them any more. But anyway. A BadgerMole found me, when I was little, and took me in. They taught me how to see using the Earth. BadgerMoles are blind too, so they knew how to teach me. I feel the earth using my feet, and that's how I know where things are. When I came back outside of the caves, I made a living fighting in Earth Rumble battles, and I made my way up to the top of the foodchain there. I started earning enough money to live here by myself. So I did. It's kind of lonely sometimes, but I make a living doing what I love; Earth Bending.'

Aang put a hand on Tophs shoulder. 'When my parents found out I was the Avatar, they abandoned me in the Fire Nation so that they wouldn't have to deal with me. I was five at the time,' the Air Bender told Toph, letting her know he understood what she went through. 'All the family I have now is Zuko,' he said somewhat sadly.

'Who's he? Your brother?' Toph asked suddenly.

Aang blushed. 'Y-yes,' he replied quickly.

An evil grin split Tophs face. 'No he isn't. I can feel your heart rate through the floor. He's something more than that, isn't he? Is he your _boyfriend_?' the young girl teased Aang, poking his ribs, still grinning maliciously.

'I ... That ... I mean ... Kind of,' Aang mumbled, blushing beet red.

'How _cute!' _Toph exclaimed. 'That's adorable,' she giggled, throwing her sack over her shoulder. 'But if you ever tell anyone I even _know _words like cute and adorable, I will make sure you wake up with a certain part of your male anatomy missing,' she growled. 'Shall we go then?' With that, Toph headed out of the door a white-faced Aang following closely, who was making a very serious mental note to never bring up this talk with anyone. Ever.

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A/N: Jinx do geeeewd? I'm amazed I actually managed to write an emotional scene here. And to be honest, I feel quite proud to say this chapter is completely mine and mine alone. No bits from the show here! Well, except for the refence to BadgerMoles teaching Toph how to Earth Bend. But ya knoooow.

Huzzah for quick update, ja? I think so. Five+ reviews for Jinx before new chapter is to be posted, m'kay? Also my new fic 'Restless' in the Danny Phantom fan-iverse is up and running, chapter three to be posted soon. So check it out! Pocky for all reviewers!


	15. UPDATE NOTICE AUTHORS NOTE

**Author's****Note**

Wow. Hey. This has been a while. I've been reading through this, and having noticed I'm one review away from 100 (that is to say, I'm at 99), I was wondering if you fair people would be interested in a re-write? I like to think I'm a much better writer now (Well, maybe not MUCH, but enough to make a difference) and I'd like to take a shot at it. Which is to say, I'll be doing it anyway. So what I'm really doing here is letting everyone who's put me or this story on their alerts list know that this will be re-written in glorious Jinxie fashion. Bam.

Ciao, guys. Until the rewrite.


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